,  \V\E  -UNIVERS//, 


k,        .^OF-CAIIFOJ! 

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a 
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PREFACE. 


rnHE  inclination  of  the  author  has  heretofore  led 
him  to  "hoe  short  rows"  in  the  field  of  lite- 
rature. He  has  edited  a  Child's  Paper,  a  Youth's 
Magazine,  a  Religious  Newspaper,  and  aided  in 
a  Quarterly.  He  has  printed  articles  in  Literary 
Monthlies,  published  Sermons  and  Tracts  often; 
but  this  is  his  first  attempt  in  making  a  boo k. 
If  he  have  but  imperfectly  succeeded,  there  need 
be  no  alarm  among  his  friends :  he  is  not  likely  to 
repeat  the  offence.  Dr.  Livingstone,  after  escap- 
ing from  sixteen  years'  travel  and  peril  in  Africa, 
said  he  "would  rather  repeat  his  journey  than  re- 
write his  journal."  We  sympathize  with  him. 

The  author's  full  professional  labors  and  inci- 
dental duties  have  so  absorbed  his  time  and  taxed 
his  energies,  that  leisurely,  discriminating,  and  ac- 
curate authorship  would  imply  a  miracle  of  self- 

1965102 


iv  PREFACE. 

sacrificing  ability.     Failing  to  satisfy  himself,  lie 
cannot  hope  to  satisfy  his  critical  friends. 

In   sending   this   volume  into   the  world,   the 
author  has,  however,  some  consolations: — 

1.  The  work  is  finished,  and  off  his  hands. 

2.  His  investigations  have  kept  his  eye  on  a 
pure  and  benevolent  character,  and  led  him  into 
communion  with  a  holy  enterprise  and  the  sainted 
fathers  of  the  Church  in  the  Middle  States  and 
New  England. 

3.  Possessing  the  diary  of  his  namesake  and 
remote  kinsman,  and  impressed  by  the  holiness 
and  consecration  of  his  life,  the  author  first  pro- 
jected  this   publication   from   family   as  well  as 
public  motives,  with  no  expectation  of  gain  or 
reputation ;   and,  therefore,  in  any  event  he  is  not 
likely  to  be  greatly  disappointed. 

4.  His  labor  has  been  lightened  and  cheered 
by  the  ready  aid  of  many  friends,  whose  names 
it  gives  the  author  a  grateful  pleasure  to  record 
wherever  he  has  appropriated  their  contributions. 

5.  By   the   ready   insertion    of   such   relevant 
documents  as  time  has  spared,  and  allowing  John 
Brainerd  to  speak  for  himself  by  all  the  records 


PREFACE.  v 

he  has  left  of  his  life,  the  author  has  aimed  to 
illustrate  his  subject  rather  than  himself,  even  if 
thereby  he  subordinated  the  temporary  popularity 
of  the  volume  to  its  final  utility. 

6.  As  to  the  literary  execution  of  his  task,  the 
author  is  satisfied  that  he  has  used  all  accessible 
materials  fully,  and  that  he  has  written  intelli- 
gibly.    He  has  furnished  the  historic  facts  set  in 
plain  English.     If  the  critical  ask  for  a  better  ar- 
rangement, higher  coloring,  and  richer  ornament, 
the  world  is  wide,  and  they  can  employ  a  more 
skilful  artist. 

7.  The  book   is   sent   into   the  world  with  a 
cheerful  conviction  that,  if  it  accomplish  no  mi- 
raculous good,  it  certainly  threatens  no  harm:   for 
it  attacks  no  religious  denomination  and  stimu- 
lates no  sectarian  bitterness;   but,  like  the  "Life 
of    David   Brainerd   by  Jonathan   Edwards,"    is 
adapted  to  those  of  all  religious  names,  creeds, 
and  forms,  in  all  times  and  in  all  lands,  "who 
love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 

Besides  the  persons  to  whom  we  have  given 
credit  for   their  aid,   we   desire   to   add   those  of 

Rev.  Charles  Bliss,  of  Reading,  Mass.,  James  C. 

i* 


vi  PREFACE. 

Walkley,  Esq.,  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  Cephas  Brain- 
erd,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry, 
0.  H.  Willard  and  George  Young,  Esqs.,  of  Phila- 
delphia. From  our  cousin,  the  Rev.  Davis  S. 
Brainerd,  of  Lyme,  Conn.,  a  native  of  Haddam 
and  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  also  at  pre- 
sent one  of  its  Corporators,  we  have  had  great 
sympathy  in  our  labors.  In  a  letter,  under  date 
of  January  30,  1865,  he  says:  "It  affords  me  the 
truest  gratification  to  learn  that  a  living  hand  has 
lifted  up  the  memory  of  an  able  and  most  estima- 
ble Christian  minister  from  the  almost  complete 
oblivion  under  which  it  has  so  long  lain.  What 
there  was  of  true  eternal  life  in  him  will  now  be 
seen  and  profitably  incorporated  into  the  great 
Christian  commonwealth  of  coming  times." 

Our  anxiety  is  not  lest  our  work  should  be 
undervalued  and  censured:  in  the  secularities  of 
the  age  and  the  excitements  of  the  country,  its 
great  peril  is  that  IT  WILL  NOT  BE  THOUGHT  OF 

AT  ALL. 

THOMAS  BRAINERD. 

PHILADELPHIA,  March,  1865. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY     9 

CHAPTER  I. 

John  Brainerd's  Parentage — His  Grandfather  and  Grandmother 
— His  Fathei  and  Mother— His  Brothers  and  Sisters — His 
Step- Brother,  Jeremiah  Mason — Major-General  Joseph  Spen- 
cer   21 

CHAPTER  II. 

John  Brainerd's  Childhood  and  Youth 37 

CHAPTER  III. 

John  Brainerd  in  Yale  College — His  Brother's  Expulsion — Its 
Injustice — Effect  on  John — Its  Influence  in  founding  Prince- 
ton College — Letters,  etc. 51 

CHAPTER  IV. 

John  Brainerd's  Entrance  upon  the  Ministry      .         .        .        .66 

CHAPTER  V. 

Condition  of  the  Indian  Missions  at  the  Time  the  Rev.  John 
Brainerd  entered  upon  his  Labors 70 

CHAPTER  VI. 

David  Brainerd  at  Kaunaumeek,  Forks  of  Delaware,  and  Cross- 
weeks  . 75 

CHAPTER  VII. 

John  Brainerd's  Invitation  to  the  Field  as  a  Missionary      .         .     93 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

John  Brainerd's  Introduction  to  his  Missionary  Field  at  Cran- 
berry, N.  J 97 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

John  Brainerd's  First  Year  among  the  Indians — Their  Number 
— Cranberry — Bethel — The  Revival — Letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Pem- 
berton 106 

CHAPTER  X. 

John  Brainerd  meets  Affliction  in  the  Outset — Sickness  among 
the  Indians — Slanders  from  those  without — Sent  for  to  at- 
tend his  Dying  Brother  David 119 

CHAPTER  XL 

John  Brainerd's  Labors  after  the  Death  of  David — His  Appoint- 
ment— His  Ordination — His  Report  to  the  Scotch  Society — 
His  Companions  in  the  Winter  of  1747-48 — Rev.  Elihu  Spen- 
cer, D.D.— First  Concert  of  Prayer 138 

CHAPTER  XII. 

John  Brainerd's  Indians  disturbed  at  Bethel — Character  of 
Chief-Justice  R.  H.  Morris — His  Tragic  Death — The  Indians 
lose  their  Lands 153 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Diary  of  John  Brainerd  among  the  Indians — How  preserved — 
His  Spirit  of  Devotion — His  Industry — His  Self- Denial  .  150 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  Journey  over  the  Delaware — Visits  Princeton — Hopewell — 
Crosses  the  River — Finds  some  Indians,  and  preaches  to 
them — His  Interpreter  returns  Home  with  Three  Squaws — 
Rev.  Charles  Beatty,  Samuel  Hazard,  Esq.,  Rev.  Richard 
Treat 166 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Endeavors  to  benefit  a  Quaker — Rancocas  Indians — An  In- 
dian Funeral — An  Indian  God — Saturday  Sermons — Much 
disturbed  by  White  People — A  Little  Indian  Boy  cries  to  go 
home  with  Mr.  Brainerd — Is  taken  along  .  .  .  .171 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

John  Brainerd  follows  the  Indians  to  a  Mineral  Spring — In- 
dian Mistress  attending  to  Prayers — Rev.  Mr.  Davenport — 


CONTENTS.  ix 


PAGE 

Brainerd  makes  another  Journey — Elizabethtown — Newark 
— Rev.  Aaron  Burr — Thanksgiving — Leaves  Home  again — 
Amwell — Brunswick — Rev.  Mr.  Arthur  ....  178 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

New  Jersey  College  Commencement — John  Brainerd  takes  his 
Master's  Degree — His  Gratitude — The  Rev.  Mr.  Pomroy — 
Rev.  Samuel  Finley 186 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Preaches  at  The  Forks — Irish  Settlement — The  Craigs — Gna- 
denhutten — His  Impressions  of  the  Moravians  .  .  .  194 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Crosses  the  Blue  Mountain — Mr.  Lawrence  visits  Bethlehem — 
Mr.  Brainerd's  Discussions .  201 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Governor  Belcher  and  his  Lady  visit  Mr.  Brainerd — His  Ser- 
mon on  the  Occasion 212 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Visits  Elizabethtown — His  Labors  there 218 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

John  Brainerd's  Pastoral  Labors — His  Trials — His  Consecra- 
tion— End  of  Diary — Its  Character 221 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Scotch  Society — Mr.  Brain- 
erd's Full  Report — His  Eventful  Journey — His  Labors, 
Perils,  and  Observations  .  .  ....  228 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Mr.  Brainerd's  Salary — His  London  Letter        ....     251 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Visit  from  Rev.  Samuel  Davis — Letter  to  Scotland— Change  of 
Field — Letters  of  President  Edwards — Rev.  Gideon  Hawlcv  266 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

PAGE 

Mr.  Brainerd  as  Pastor  in  Deerfield — Why  he  went  there — 
His  Predecessors — Traditions  of  his  Labors — A  Case  of  Dis- 
cipline— His  Indian  Woman  Becky — His  Death  and  Tomb- 
stone   429 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

Mr.  Brainerd's  Last  Will  and  Testament — His  Descendants — 
His  Person  and  Manners 436 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

Concluding  Observations  on  Mr.  Brainerd's  Life  and  Labors     .    445 

APPENDIX. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Joseph  G.  Symmes,  of  Cranberry,  N.  J.,  concern- 
ing Bethel,  the  former  Indian  Town  in  his  Neighborhood      .  455 
David  and  John  Brainerd's  Journeys  in  Pennsylvania      .        .  456 
Letter  of  Rev.  Cutting  Marsh,  on  the  Present  Condition  of  the 
Delaware  Indians  aud  their  Traditions  of  the  Brainerd  Bro- 
thers          459 

David  Brainerd  not  forgotten    .......  463 

Letter  of  Rev.  Allen  H.  Brown,  of  Absecom,  N.  J.,  on  John 

Brainerd's  Domestic  Missionary  Labors         ....  466 

Letters  from  Mrs.  Ross  to  her  Step- Mother,  Mrs.  Brainerd         .  478 

Letter  from  Mrs.  E.  M.  Sims 480 

A  Modern  Experiment  in  the  Education  of  Young  Indians       .  482 

Indian  Wrongs .  486 


INTRODUCTORY. 


rilHE  name  of  the  Rev.  David  Brainerd  is  familiar 
-*-  and  precious  to  the  Church  of  God.  Though  more 
than  one  hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  he  died, 
his  memory  is  still  fresh  and  fragrant  wherever  Chris- 
tianity has  found  a  lodgment  in  any  part  of  the  earth. 
His  holy  life,  his  fervent  prayers,  his  devout,  tender, 
and  earnest  teachings,  his  apostolic  labors,  his  martyr 
sacrifices  and  spiritual  triumphs  and  successes,  furnish 
models  and  motives  to  the  ministry,  and  to  the  pious 
of  every  class,  so  precious  and  useful  that  the  Church 
can  never  afford  to  let  his  name  die. 

As  the  great  interests  to  which  he  gave  his  life  and 
his  energies  were  not  of  the  day,  nor  the  class,  nor 
the  place;  as  the  great  principles  which  he  avowed  are 
immutable  and  pertinent  in  all  time  and  among  all  na- 
tions; as  the  great  work  he  essayed  is  still  unfinished; 
and  as  the  concentrated  vision  of  the  Church  for  a 
century  gone  by  has  discovered  in  the  martyr-mis- 
sionary more  of  the  image  of  his  great  Master,  it  is 
no  wonder  that  the  name  of  David  Brainerd  has  con- 

2  9 


10  INTRODUCTORY. 

stantly  brightened,  whilst  more  brilliant  but  less  worthy 
names  have  faded  from  the  memory  of  the  Church. 

In  moving  into  the  future,  it  is  the  destiny  of  man  to 
move  into  relative  darkness.  Every  individual  human 
advance  is  an  adventure  in  paths  dim,  difficult,  and 
perilous,  never  yet  trodden;  an  experiment  of  labors 
and  perils  not  yet  endured,  of  responsibilities  yet  to 
be  discharged,  and  of  aims  and  elevations  yet  to  be 
surmounted.  No  wonder  that  in  these  circumstances 
man  looks  around  him  to  inquire,  "  Has  any  one  mapped 
out  the  way  ?  Has  any  one  successfully  threaded  the 
difficult  and  dreary  paths?  Has  any  one  borne  the 
labors  and  overcome  the  dangers?  Has  any  one 
scaled  the  heights,  and  laid  his  hand  on  the  proffered 
prize  ?" 

The  martial  spirit  is  kept  alive  by  the  great  names 
and  achievements  of  its  heroes ;  its  Caesars,  Welling- 
tons, and  Napoleons.  Science  renews  its  energy  in 
communion  with  the  names  of  its  Galileos,  Lockes,  and 
Newtons.  Men  are  brave  to  strike  for  human  free- 
dom under  the  shelter  of  the  great  examples  of  Hamp- 
den,  Cromwell,  and  Washington  !  The  biographies  of 
the  eminent  dead  not  only  furnish  illustrations  of  what 
the  living  may  be,  and  do,  and  dare;  they  not  only  lift 
men  above  the  crowd  to  a  higher  estimate  of  human 
capacity  and  power;  they  do  more,  through  the  social 
principles  by  which  one  is  set  to  imitate  the  good 
deeds  which  he  contemplates  in  others.  The  Church 
of  God  has  always  availed  itself  of  these  principles  of 


INTRODUCTORY  n 

our  nature;  and,  while  war  has  cherished  its  heroes 
and  science  its  devotees,  Christianity  has  wisely  em- 
balmed the  memory  of  her  great  teachers,  her  saints, 
and  her  martyrs.  It  is  well  it  is  so;  for,  however 
dwarfed  may  be  the  present  age  in  any  grace  or  at- 
tainment, the  true  and  growing  Christian  can  find 
solace,  sympathy,  and  companionship  with  the  more 
excellent  men  and  things  of  the  past. 

No  doubt  Christian  biography  enrolls  names  more 
eminent  for  genius,  learning,  and  eloquence  than 
David  Brainerd.  No  doubt  hundreds,  and  perhaps 
thousands,  have  surpassed  him  in  the  wide-spread 
influence  of  their  personal  labors;  for  David  Brain- 
erd's  ministry,  like  his  great  Master's,  lasted  but 
about  three  years.  At  his  death  he  "began  to  be" 
only  "thirty  years  old."  He  has  not  been  remem- 
bered and  famed  as  a  man  eminently  great  in  intel- 
lect, though  his  biographer,  President  Edwards,  says 
of  him :  "  God  sanctified  and  made  meet  for  his  own 
use  that  vessel  (Brainerd),  which  he  made  of  large 
capacity,  having  endowed  him  with  very  uncommon 
abilities  and  gifts  of  nature.  He  was  a  singular  in- 
stance of  ready  invention,  natural  energy,  ready  flow- 
ing expression  and  sprightly  apprehension,  quick  dis- 
cerning, and  a  very  strong  memory ;  and  yet  of  a  very 
penetrating  genius,  clear  thought  and  piercing  judg- 
ment." This  likeness  was  drawn  by  a  master.  The 
man  of  whom  President  Edwards  could  say  all  this 
had  an  intellect  of  the  first  order.  But  President 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

Edwards  goes  farther,  to  affirm  that  David  Brainerd 
"had  an  exact  taste;  that  his  understanding  was  of  a 
quick,  strong,  and  distinguished  scent;  that  his  learn- 
ing was  very  considerable,  so  that  he  was  considered 
in  college  as  one  that  excelled ;  that  he  had  an  extra- 
ordinary knowledge  of  men  as  well  as  things;  that  he 
excelled  most  that  Edwards  ever  knew  in  a  commu- 
nicative faculty;  that  he  had  extraordinary  gifts  for 
the  pulpit;  being  clear,  instructive,  moving,  natural, 
nervous,  forcible,  and  very  searching  and  convincing;" 
that  in  private  intercourse  "he  was  of  a  sociable  dis- 
position," and  had  excellent  talents  for  conversation, 
being  entertaining  and  profitable.  President  Edwards 
sums  up  his  estimate  of  Brainerd  by  declaring  him  "an 
extraordinary  divine,  unequalled,  for  one  of  his  age,  for 
clear,  accurate  notions  of  the  power  and  nature  of  true 
religion;"  and  this  superiority  in  David  Brainerd  he 
attributes  "to  the  strength  of  his  natural  genius,  his 
great  opportunities  of  observation,  and  his  own  great 
experience." 

We  see  from  these  extracts  that  President  Edwards 
did  not  regard  David  Brainerd  as  simply  a  very  re- 
markably pious  and  good  sort  of  man,  who  had  reached 
eminence  and  success  by  meaning  well  and  industrious 
labor. 

In  the  judgment  of  Edwards,  David  Brainerd  was 
distinguished  for  an  intellect  of  wonderful  power ;  for 
gifts  and  graces  that  would  have  distinguished  him  in 
any  profession,  any  age,  or  any  land.  His  reputation 


1NTRODUCTORT.  13 

as  a  great  man  intellectually  has  failed  only  in  the 
greater  brilliancy  of  his  holy  heart  and  martyr  life. 

But  it  is  not  David  Brainerd,  the  man  of  genius  and 
acute  poetic  sensibility ;  not  the  skilful  metaphysician 
and  dialectician ;  not  the  eloquent  preacher  and  gifted 
and  entertaining  companion,  whom  the  Church  has 
embalmed  in  her  memory  and  laid  near  her  heart. 
She  has  had  many  other  sons  equally  gifted  and  emi- 
nent in  these  regards.  The  David  Brainerd  who  has 
stood  before  the  Church  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  to  stimulate  successive  generations  to  zeal,  watch- 
fulness, humility,  prayer,  and  evangelical  labor,  is  the 
missionary  saint ;  his  genius  and  attainments,  his  honor 
and  wealth,  his  country,  companionship,  and  home,  all 
laid  on  the  altar  of  God  and  humanity;  the  orphan- 
boy,  struggling  with  doubt,  fear,  misapprehension,  but 
led  by  truth  and  the  Spirit  into  gradual  light  and 
peace  in  Jesus;  the  keenly-sensitive  conscience  and  the 
lofty  moral  standard,  that  makes  imperfection  a  crime 
to  be  overcome  by  prayers,  penitence,  and  tears;  the 
student,  ambitious  of  learning  and  college-honors,  but, 
for  an  indiscretion  prompted  by  religious  enthusiasm, 
banished  from  his  alma  mater  and  its  doors  forever 
barred  against  him ;  the  candidate  for  the  ministry, 
mastering  in  his  studies  alike  the  sublimest  problems 
of  theology  and  the  hearts  of  his  teachers,  like  Mills 
and  Bellamy;  the  young  and  bold  missionary  to  the 
Indians,  alone  with  the  savages  in  the  howling  wil- 
derness, his  dwelling  a  wigwam,  his  bed  a  blanket 


i4 

on  the  earth  or  gathered  leaves,  his  food  corn-cakes 
kneaded  by  his  own  hand  and  baked  at  his  forest-fire; 
the  missionary  explorer,  threading  alone  on  horseback 
hundreds  of  miles  of  the  wilderness,  in  the  midst  of 
tangled  forest,  swamps,  ravines,  and  craggy  precipices ; 
surrounded  by  yelping  wolves,  and  himself  cold,  weary, 
sick,  and  oppressed  by  the  morbid  depression  so  often 
the  attribute  of  genius,  so  that  literally,  like  his  great 
Master,  "he  had  nowhere  to  lay  his  head;"  the  shrewd, 
unwearied,  skilful  Christian  teacher,  bringing  all  the 
energies  of  his  nature  to  render  himself  familiar 
first  with  one  and  then  another  Indian  tongue,  until 
he  could  speak  without  an  interpreter  the  words  of 
life;  the  parental  sympathy  and  love,  that  made  his 
people's  joys  and  sorrows  his  own,  by  which  he  stole 
their  hearts  and  opened  their  ears  to  truth;  the  un- 
wearied assiduity  by  which,  in  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son, he  made  truth  to  percolate  through  the  dark 
minds  around;  the  blameless  and  heavenly  life  he  led, 
by  which  his  Indians  saw  the  gospel  organized  into 
a  loving  example  of  purity  and  charity;  the  earnest, 
lowly,  and  effective  prayers  by  which  he  preserved  in 
himself  a  heavenly  spirit  and  brought  to  his  aid  the 
energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  patient  and  unremitted 
labor  and  prayer  while  the  revival-blessing  was  de- 
layed, and  the  meek  humility  and  quietude  with  which 
he  bore  himself  when  his  labors  were  crowned  with 
success;  his  pentecostal  seasons  of  revival,  his  wonder- 
ful success  in  a  few  months  of  revolutionizing  scores 


INTRODUCTORr.  15 

of  savages  into  penitent,  God-fearing,  Christian  men 
and  women,  and  the  simple  eloquence  and  self-aban- 
donment with  which  lie  recorded  all  this  in  reports  to 
the  Society  that  employed  him;  bearing  to  a  consider- 
able extent  his  own  charges  in  all  this  work,  and  at 
the  same  time  devoting  his  patrimony  to  aid  in  an 
education  for  the  ministry  of  another  young  man  to 
labor  in  the  missionary  work;  literally,  by  labor,  ex- 
posure, and  religious  anxiety,  wearing  himself  out  at 
thirty  years,  but  brave,  unfaltering,  and  submissive, 
seeking  his  own  New  England,  to  die  in  the  presence 
of  one  that  on  earth  he  best  loved;  but  not  until  he  had 
summoned  his  own  younger  brother  to  enter  the  same 
field  and  bear  the  same  burden  in  the  great  work  of 
saving  the  poor  Indians ;  this  was  the  man  whom  the 
Church  could  not  afford  that  humanity  should  forget. 

But  aside  from  his  talents,  his  piety,  and  wonder- 
ful success,  the  fame  of  this  distinguished  man  was 
not  a  little  aided  by  the  eminence  and  abilities  of  his 
greater  biographer.  Any  man  whose  life  Jonathan 
Edwards  thought  worthy  to  write  would  be  certain 
of  being  remembered,  as  great  and  rapid  streams  im- 
part motion  to  all  things,  great  and  small,  thrown  on 
the  bosom  of  their  waters. 

There  were  some  especial  reasons  why  the  great 
metaphysician  and  divine  should  throw  his  whole  heart 
into  his  biography  of  the  great  missionary. 

Brainerd  was  a  protege  of  Edwards,  a  martyr  in 
college  to  his  zeal  for  the  Evangelical  party,  a  type 


16  INTRODUCTORT. 

of  that  peculiar  form  of  piety  enjoined  in  the  "Reli- 
gious Affections,"  the  accepted  and  betrothed  lover  of 
his  daughter. 

Brainerd's  whole  mental  constitution  and  training, 
his  moral  characteristics  and  developments,  prepared 
him  to  look  up  to  Edwards  with  the  profoundest 
reverence,  and  to  regard  him  as  a  model  of  all  that 
is  sublime  in  wisdom  or  commendable  in  piety.  It 
was  natural  that  the  heart  of  Edwards  should  be 
touched  by  the  admiration  and  love  of  such  a  saint-like 
and  gifted  young  man,  and  that  he  should  tax  to  the 
utmost  his  vast  powers  so  to  set  him  forth  as  to  gain 
for  him  that  elevation  in  the  eyes  of  the  Church  which 
he  held  in  the  estimation  of  his  biographer.  This 
Edwards  actually  did,  and  thereby  threw  around  the 
name  and  deeds  of  David  Brainerd  a  moral  radiance 
which  the  lapse  of  ages  has  110  power  to  dim  or  extin- 
guish. 

The  REV.  JOHN  BRAINERD,  the  younger  brother  of 
David,  and  his  successor  in  missionary  labor  among 
the  Indians  of  New  Jersey,  though  of  kindred  spirit, 
and  perhaps  equal  moral  worth,  had  not  the  eminent 
talents,  nor  the  large  acquisitions,  nor  the  marked 
success  of  his  brother  David.  But  the  relative  ob- 
livion into  which  his  name  has  fallen  is  not  mainly 
to  be  ascribed  to  any  deficiency  in  these  respects. 
He  not  only  had  the  destiny  to  essay  a  work  concern- 
ing which  the  highest  expectation  had  been  raised, 
while  its  novelty  before  the  world  had  been  ex- 


INTRODUCTORY  17 

hausted,  but  to  assume  this  work  at  its  most  difficult 
point;  that  is,  to  train  to  fixed  principles  and  abiding 
Christian  rectitude  the  wandering  savages  whom  his 
brother  David,  by  the  grace  of  God,  had  converted  to 
the  hopeful  profession  of  Christianity.  Which  brother 
had  the  harder  task,  I  leave  the  reader  to  decide. 

It  is  true,  the  younger  brother  had  the  advantage 
resulting  from  the  experience  and  labors  of  his  pre- 
decessor, and  the  prestige  of  his  good  name,  and  all 
the  influence  of  the  Church's  approbation.  These 
were  benefits  not  to  be  undervalued.  But  even  these 
did  not  so  counterbalance  the  facts  before  stated  as  to 
give  him  or  his  mission  any  great  prominence  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Church.  When  we  add  to  this  the  fact 
that  his  labors  were  signalized  by  no  marked  and 
extraordinary  developments  among  either  the  Indians 
or  his  own  countrymen,  and  that  there  was  no  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  with  deep  affection,  patient  toil,  and 
consummate  genius  and  skill,  to  give  him  a  biography; 
we  see  how  it  is  that,  while  the  fame  of  David  Brain- 
erd  has  gone  over  the  earth,  his  beloved  brother  and 
co-laborer  has  been  almost  overlooked  and  forgotten. 
One  star  has  differed  from  the  other  star  in  glory. 
The  greater  brilliancy  of  the  one  has  paled  the  mild 
but  beautiful  shining  of  the  other. 

Believing  that  the  love  of  the  Church  in  this  and 
other  lands  for  the  memory  of  David  Brainerd  has 
created  an  interest  which  extends,  in  a  certain  degree, 
to  his  successor  in  the  missionary  work,  and  to  the 


i8  INTRODUCTORT. 

result  of  their  united  labors,  the  writer  has  been 
induced  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  the  present 
volume.  Representing  their  name,  and  sharing  with 
them  the  great  responsibilities  of  the  ministerial  office, 
claiming  kindred  with  them  according  to  the  flesh,  and 
humbled  by  the  contemplation  of  their  moral  excel- 
lence, it  seems  pertinent  that  he  should  have  great 
interest  in  their  history,  and  be  willing  to  give  such 
information  concerning  them  as  he  can  furnish  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Church  of  God.  He  has  sought  for 
information  on  the  subject  from  every  available  source; 
but  after  the  lapse  of  one  hundred  years,  the  materials 
for  the  biography  of  any  man  will  in  most  cases  be  few 
and  unsatisfactory.  The  Indian  nations  whom  John 
Brainerd  instructed  in  God's  truth  have  faded  and 
perished,  and  with  them  mostly  the  record  of  his  toils 
for  their  welfare.  But  something  still  remains;  and 
it  has  been  the  writer's  responsibility  to  gather  these 
fragments  of  a  martyr-life,  and,  giving  symmetry  and 
completeness  to  the  skeleton  form,  by  linking  "bone 
to  its  bone,"  to  throw  into  it  such  a  beating  heart,  and 
over  it  such  a  mantle  of  muscle  and  flesh,  as  would 
justify  its  introduction  to  the  living  generation  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

Alone,  the  journal  and  biography  of  John  Brainerd 
might  lack  interest,  as  the  materials  are  scanty;  but 
as  a  sequel  to  the  memoir  of  his  distinguished  brother, 
it  will,  I  trust,  be  regarded  with  satisfaction  by  the 
friends  of  Christ. 


INTRODUCTORY.  19 

As  the  friend  of  Whitefield,  the  Tennents,  Presi- 
dents Edwards,  Burr,  and  Dickinson;  as  the  trustee 
for  twenty-six  years  of  the  College  of  Princeton;  as 
the  Moderator  of  the  Old  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia;  as  one  selected  to  fill  the  place  of  Presi- 
dent Edwards  at  Stockbridge,  on  his  transfer  to  Nas- 
sau Hall;  as  a  chaplain  in  the  Old  French  War  on  the 
frontiers  of  Canada;  as  the  first  domestic  missionary 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States;  as 
a  faithful  missionary  to  the  Indians  for  more  than 
twenty  years;  and,  above  all,  as  a  holy  and  conse- 
crated man  of  God,  I  think  there  are  materials  in  the 
life  of  John  Brainerd  to  justify  the  tardy  presenta- 
tion of  his  journal  and  biography  to  the  public.  The 
author  feels  great  satisfaction  in  being  able  to  set  a 
character  so  stainless  and  benevolent  before  the  rising 
ministry  of  the  land. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

JEN  BRAINERD'S  PARENTAGE  —  HIS  GRANDFATHER  AKD  GRAND- 
MOTHER— HIS  FATHER  AND  MOTHER — HIS  BROTHERS  AND  SIS- 
TERS—  HIS  STEP-BROTHER,  JEREMIAH  MASON  —  MAJOR-GENERAL 
JOSEPH  SPENCER. 

A  BOUT  the  year  1649,  there  was  brought,  as  is 
supposed  from  Exeter,  in  England,  to  Hart- 
)rd,  Conn.,  a  little  boy  eight  years  of  age,  named 
)aniel  Brainerd.*  In  what  vessel  he  embarked, 
/hy  he  left  home  at  such  a  tender  age,  by  whom 
e  was  accompanied  and  cared  for,  we  know  not: 
/e  only  know  that  this  little  boy  came  with  the 
Wyllis"  family,  one  of  the  most  affluent  and  re- 
pectable  in  Hartford,  and  that  he  remained  in  it 
ntil  1662,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 


*  We  have  followed  Dr.  Field's  "  Brainerd  Genealogy."  In  the 
jbrary  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  at  Worcester,  we 
ave  lately  seen  a  manuscript  "Genealogy  of  the  Brainerds,"  written 
a  1784,  which  states  that  Daniel  Brainerd  lived  in  the  Wadsworth 
imily,  at  Hartford,  until  he  was  of  age,  and  then,  after  two  years, 
amoved  to  Haddam.  We  have  no  means  of  verifying  the  facts,  as 
he  whole  matter  rests  on  tradition. 

3  21 


22  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

What  relation  he  sustained  to  the  Wyllis  family, 
whether  he  was  a  relative,  or  an  orphan  taken  to 
be  sheltered,  or  a  bound  boy,  we  have  no  know- 
ledge. None  of  his  name  or  blood  have  been 

o 

clearly  traced  in  Europe,  nor  outside  of  his  de- 
scendants in  America.  Two  hundred  and  twelve 
years  ago,  the  boy  of  eight  years  put  his  little  feet 
on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut;  around  him  a 
great  continent  covered  by  a  howling  wilderness, 
and  perilous  from  roaming  savage  tribes  and  beasts 
of  prey.  It  is  said  that  at  least  thirty-three  thou- 
sand persons  in  these  United  States  have  looked 
back  to  that  lone  boy  as  the  head  of  their  family.* 
Arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  Daniel 
Brainerd,  in  company  with  twenty-seven  others, 
young  men  of  his  own  age,  went  about  thirty 
miles  below  Hartford,  and  selected  for  settlement 
a  tract  of  land  twelve  miles  square,  comprehending 
nearly  equal  portions  on  each  side  of  the  Connecti- 
cut River.  Middletown,  about  nine  miles  above, 
and  Saybrook,  twenty  miles  below,  had  been  al- 
ready taken  up  and  thinly  peopled.  Haddam,  for 


*  The  name  Brainerd  was  variously  spelled  in  the  early  records : 
sometimes  we  find  it  'Brainard,  and  again  Braynard,  but  most  com- 
monly it  was  written  Brainerd.  This  was  the  mode  of  David  and 
John,  and  has  obtained  most  in  the  family. 

However  spelled,  the  name  is  identical,  as  all  trace  their  origin 
to  the  common  ancestor,  Daniel  Brainerd.  The  name  is  said  to  be 
of  Norman  origin.  Tradition  has  it  that  the  name  was  originally 
Brain  wood,  or  Braidwood.  This  has  some  probability,  as  the  name 
Brainerd  is  not  now  found  in  England. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRA1NERD.  23 

this  was  the  name  given  to  the  new  settlement, 
comprehended  one  of  the  wildest  and  most  pictu- 
resque portions  of  the  State.  Here  the  Connecti- 
cut River  breaks  through  the  mountain-range  which 
terminates  in  the  East  Rock  at  New  Haven.  The 
broad,  beautiful  stream,  the  fine  island  opposite 
the  town,  the  level  fertile  meadows  reaching  half 
a  mile  from  the  river,  the  terrace-like  elevations 
by  which  the  hills  rise  from  the  plain,  the  frown- 
ing and  rocky  bluffs  which  here  and  there  force 
themselves  to  the  water's  edge,  the  deep  lateral 
vales  through  which  the  smaller  streams  rush  to 
meet  the  great  river,  and  the  dark  shade  ot  the 
semi-mountains,  hundreds  of  feet  high,  looming 
everywhere  in  the  little  distance, — all  these  give 
to  the  scenery  of  Haddam  a  grandeur  and  beauty 
rarely  to  be  equalled. 

Brainerd  selected  his  estate  about  two  miles 
above  the  present  village  of  Haddam,  and  one 
mile  below  the  present  village  of  Higganum,  a 
great  part  of  which  was  originally  owned  by  some 
branches  of  the  family.  His  farm,  gently  sloping 
down  to  the  river  from  a  considerable  elevation, 
looking  west  on  craggy  hills,  commanded  a  view 
of  the  Connecticut  for  miles  up  and  down  the 
river.  Here,  on  land  reclaimed  by.  his  own  in- 
dustry from  the  forest,  John  Brainerd's  grand- 
father planted  his  family;  and  his  property  re- 
mained with  his  descendants  nearly  two  hundred 
years,  to  the  present  generation. 


24  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

The  poet  J.  G.  Brainerd,  Esq.,  of  New  London, 
thus  apostrophizes  the  beautiful  Connecticut,  on 
the  banks  of  which  his  fathers  had  been  settled 
for  nearly  two  centuries: — 

"Stream  of  my  sleeping  fathers  !     When  the  sound 
Of  coming  war*  echoed  thy  hills  around, 
How  did  thy  sons  start  forth  from  every  glade, 
Snatching  the  musket  where  they  left  the  spade ! 
How  did  their  mothers  urge  them  to  the  fight, — 
Their  sisters  tell  them  to  defend  the  right ! 
How  bravely  did  they  stand, — how  nobly  fall, — 
The  earth  their  coffin,  and  the  turf  their  pall ! 
How  did  the  aged  pastor  light  his  eye, 
When  to  his  flock  he  read  the  purpose  high 
And  stern  resolve,  whate'er  the  toil  may  be, 
To  pledge  life,  name,  fame,  all — for  liberty ! 
Bold  river !    better  suited  are  thy  waves 
To  nurse  the  laurels  clust'ring  round  their  graves 
Than  many  a  distant  stream,  that  soaks  the  mud 
Where  thy  brave  sons  have  shed  their  gallant  blood ; 
And  felt,  beyond  all  other  mortal  pain, 
They  ne'er  should  see  their  happy  home  again." 

Of  Daniel,  the  grandfather  of  David  and  John 
Brainerd,  the  Rev.  D.  D.  Field,  D.D.,  says,  "The 
ancestor  became  the  proprietor  and  settler  of  Had- 
dam  about  1662,  and  was  a  prosperous,  influential, 
and  very  respectable  man;  a  justice  of  peace  in  the 
town,  a  deacon  in  the  church.  He  became  the 
greatest  landholder  in  Haddam,  owning,  besides 

*  Eleven  of  the  Brainerd  family  served  in  the  Old  French  War 
and  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  four  of  whom  fell  martyrs  to 
their  country.  In  the  present  war  to  put  down  rebellion,  the  family 
has  furnished  many  more  soldiers  and  will  mourn  more  victims. 
May  their  blood  not  be  shed  in  vain ! 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  25 

rights  in  other  places  in  the  township,  about  a 
mile  in  the  northeast  part,  on  the  Connecticut 
River,  including  what  is  covered  by  the  present 
village  of  Higganum."  As  Brainerd  aided  to  found 
the  first  church  of  Haddam  almost  the  first  year 
of  the  settlement,  and  served  it  as  deacon,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  was  early  and  consistently  pious, 
and  wisely  laid  the  foundation  of  his  family  hopes 
in  the  fear  of  God. 

About  the  year  1664  he  married  Hannah  Spen- 
cer, daughter  of  Jared  Spencer,  first  of  Lynn,  Mass., 
and  afterwards  of  Haddam.  Of  his  wife's  family 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  in  his  article*  on  the 
Rev.  Elihu  Spencer,  D.D.,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  says,— 

"The  ancestors  of  the  family  from  whom  this  eminent 
man  descended  were  five  brothers,  who  emigrated  from 
England  to  Massachusetts  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  eldest,  John  Spencer,  appears  to  have  been 
a  large  landholder,  a  magistrate,  a  member  of  the  Gene- 
ral Court,  and  a  high  military  officer  in  Watertown,  now 
Cambridge,  from  1634  to  1638,  when  he  returned  to 
England,  leaving  no  descendants  on  this  side  the  Atlan- 
tic. William  Spencer,  the  second  brother,  also  settled 
in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Court  and  a  landed  proprietor.  He  afterwards  removed 
to  Connecticut,  where  he  died,  leaving  a  numerous  fam- 
ily. He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  late  Ambrose  Spencer, 
Chief  Justice  of  New  York.  Thomas  Spencer,  the  third 
brother,  died  in  Haddam,  the  residence  of  his  family,  in 
1685. 

*  Spraguc's  Annals,  vol.  iii.  p.  165. 


26  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

"Ichabod  S.  Spencer,  D.D.,  late  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  Hon. 
Joshua  A.  Spencer,  late  of  Utica,  are  among  his  de- 
scendants. The  fourth  brother,  Jared  Spencer,  origin- 
ally settled  with  his  brother  in  Cambridge,  and  came  not 
long  afterwards  to  Connecticut,  when  he  became  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  the  town  of  Haddam.  He  died  in 
1685,  leaving  a  numerous  posterity.  The  Rev.  Elihu 
Spencer,  D.D.,  the  subject  of  this  article,  and  Major- 
General  Joseph  Spencer,  a  distinguished  and  active  mili- 
tary officer  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  were  among 
his  descendants." 

Tared  Spencer,  alluded  to  in  this  article,  was 
the  maternal  grandfather  of  John  Brainerd  ;  and, 
consequently,  Rev.  Dr.  Elihu  Spencer,  of  Trenton, 
was  a  cousin  of  the  missionary. 

Daniel  Brainerd,  the  paternal  grandfather  of 
John,  was  the  father  of  eight  children.  Seven  of 
these  were  sons,  all  of  whom  settled  in  life,  raised 
large  families,  and  lived  to  advanced  years.* 

*  It  may  interest  a  certain  class  of  our  readers  to  follow  Dr.  Field 
in  a  sketch  of  the  descendants  of  these  seven  sons.  Their  names 
were, — 1.  Daniel;  2.  James;  3.  Joshua;  4.  William;  5.  Caleb;  6. 
Elijah  ;  7.  Hezekiah,  the  father  of  David  and  John. 

1.  Daniel  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  Dr.  Daniel  Brainerd,  of 
Tremont,  Ohio,  Hon.  Jeremiah  Gates  Brainerd,   Hon.  William   F. 
Brainerd,  J.  G.  Brainerd  the  poet,  Dr.  Dyer  Throop  Brainerd,  of 
New  London. 

2.  James  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Rev.  Eliezer  Brainerd, 
late  of  Ohio,  Rev.  Davis  S.  Brainerd,  of  Lyme,  Conn.,  Rev.  Thomas 
Brainerd,  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Austin  Brainerd,  late  of  New  York, 
Cephas  Brainerd,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  Norman  L.  Brainerd,  Esq.,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Erastus  and  Silas  Brainerd,  of  Middletown,  Conn., 
and  Leonard  W.  Brainerd,  of  New  York. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BR  A I NERD.  27 

It  is  believed  they  were  all  hopefully  pious,  and 
most  of  them  officers  in  the  Church.  Their  de- 
scendants, to  the  fifth  and  sixth  generations,  have 
inherited  and  illustrated  to  a  great  extent  the  reli- 
gious faith  and  pure  morals  of  their  fathers. 

Hezekiah  Brainerd,  the  youngest  son  of  Daniel 
Brainerd,  Esq.,  and  father  of  David  and  John,  was 
the  most  prominent  and  influential  of  the  family ; 
a  gentleman  of  education,  means,  and  high  official 
position.  President  Edwards  calls  him  "the  wor- 
shipful Mr.  Brainerd,  one  of  his  majesty's  council." 
Dr.  Field  says  "he  acquired  much  more  education 
than  was  obtained  by  respectable  young  men  gene- 
rally in  his  day,  and  became  a  man  of  great  dis- 

3.  Joshua  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  Hon.  John  Brainerd,  Re- 
presentative in  the  Assembly  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  &c. 

4.  William  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  Rev.  Chiliab  Brainerd, 
of  Eastbury,  Conn.,  Roswell  Colt  Brainerd,  Esq.,  of  Middletown, 
Conn.,  Hon.  Ezra  Brainerd,  late  of  Haddarn,  Lawrence  R.  Brainerd, 
of  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  Hon.  Lawrence  Brainerd,  late  United  States  Sen- 
ator at  Washington,  Rev.  Israel  Brainerd,  late  of  Verona,  N.  Y., 
Hon.  Joseph  Hungerford  Brainerd,  of  Vermont,  Rev.  Timothy  G. 
Brainerd,  of  Halifax,  Mass. 

5.  Caleb  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  Dr.  Daniel  Brainerd,  of  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

6.  Elijah  Brainerd  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Rev.  Elijah  Brainerd, 
of  South  Carolina,  Rev.  Carolus  C.  Brainerd,  of  Warrenton,  N.  C., 
Almon  Brainerd,  Esq.,  Greenfield,  Mass.,  John  Brainerd,  Esq.,  late 
of  New  Orleans,  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  of  Maryland. 

7.  Hezekiah   Brainerd  being  the  father  of  David  and  John,  we 
shall  speak  of  his  family  in  the  body  of  this  memoir. 

"  Contributions  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Connecticut,"  p.  401, 
gives  the  names  of  ten  ministers  of  the  name  of  Brainerd  raised  up 
by  the  Church  in  Haddam.  As  many  more  have  entered  the  minis 
try  elsewhere,  all  descended  from  Deacon  Daniel  Brainerd. 


28  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

tinction  and  influence.  He  was  Representative  to 
the  General  Assembly  and  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  a  member  of  the  Council,  or 
Senate,  who  intrusted  him  with  many  public  con- 
cerns. In  consideration  of  extra  public  services, 
the  Legislature  gave  him  a  farm  of  three  hundred 
acres  in  Goshen,  Conn."  He  died  in  the  Capitol, 
while  attending  in  his  place  as  Senator,  May  24, 
1727,  when  his  son  David  was  nine  and  John 
seven  years  old.  His  tombstone  is  in  the  grounds 
of  the  First  Church,  Hartford,  in  the  rear  of  the 
church-edifice. 

Hezekiah  Brainerd  married  Dorothy,  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hobart,  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Haddam,  October  1,  1707. 

Mrs.  Brainerd's  family  affinities  are  very  fully 
drawn  by  President  Edwards,  to  which  the  reader 
is  referred.  She  was  of  an  excellent  stock,  and,  it 
is  believed,  a  woman  of  fine  intellect  and  ardent 
piety.  The  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
has  thrown  the  deep  veil  of  oblivion  over  her  per- 
son, her  talents,  her  maternal  modes  and  character- 
istics, her  counsels,  and  her  yearning  prayers.* 

How  much  David  and  John  Brainerd  owed  of 


*  Dorothy  Hobart  was  the  young  widow  of  Daniel  Mason,  grand- 
eon  of  the  famed  Captain  John  Mason,  the  hero  of  the  Indian  Wars. 
She  had  one  son,  Jeremiah  Mason,  the  grandfather  of  Hon.  Jeremiah 
Mason,  the  great  rival  of  Daniel  Webster,  of  Boston. 

"Jeremiah  Mason,  the  step-son  of  Hon.  Hezekiah  Brainerd,  and 
step-brother  of  David  and  John,  was  born  March  4,  1705,  and  mar- 
ried, May  24,  1727,  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Clark,  of  Haddam. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  29 

their  peculiar  piety  and  usefulness  to  the  early 
lessons,  example,  and  prayers  of  their  excellent 

Jeremiah  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  was  six  months  old,  so 
that  from  his  early  infancy  he  was  a  step-child,  and  was  brought 
up  'after  the  most  straitest  sect  of  our  religion,'  by  a  rigid  Puritan, 
his  step-father,  who,  as  the  family  tradition  tells  us,  '  looked  after 
the  boys.'  It  tells  us  also  that  Jeremiah,  when  a  man,  once  coming 
in  late  at  night,  Mr.  Brainerd  asked  him,  'Where  have  you  been  so 
late  at  night  ?' 

"  '  I  have  been,'  said  he,  '  to  see  Mary  Clark.' 

"  'Oh!  very  well,'  answered  the  step-father.  'Go  to  bed.'  "  [Life 
of  Mrs.  Judge  Boardman,  of  New  Haven,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Schroeder.] 

The  grandson  before  spoken  of,  the  Hon.  Jeremiah  Mason,  of  Bos- 
ton, died  November  3,  1848. 

Daniel  Webster  pronounced  a  eulogy  upon  him,  November  4, 1848, 
before  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Massachusetts,  at  Boston ;  and 
presented  to  the  court  at  the  same  time  certain  resolutions  unani- 
mously adopted  a  short  time  before  at  a  meeting  of  the  Bar  of  the 
county  of  Suffolk,  on  motion  of  the  Hon.  Rufus  Choate. 

On  moving  the  resolutions,  Mr.  Choate  said: — 

"Mr.  Mason  was  so  extraordinary  a  person  ;  his  powers  of  inind 
were  not  only  so  vast,  but  so  peculiar ;  his  character  and  influence 
were  so  weighty,  as  well  as  good;  he  filled  for  so  many  years  so  con- 
spicuous a  place  in  the  profession  of  the  law,  in  public  life,  and  in 
intercourse  with  those  who  gave  immediate  direction  to  public  affairs, 
that  it  appears  most  fit,  if  it  were  practicable,  that  we  should  attempt 
to  record  somewhat  permanently  and  completely  our  appreciation  of 
him,  and  to  convey  it  to  others,  who  knew  him  less  perfectly  and  less 
recently  than  ourselves.  It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  very  few 
greatest  men  whom  this  country  has  produced ;  a  statesman  among 
the  foremost  in  a  senate  of  which  King  and  Giles,  in  the  fulness  of 
their  strength  and  fame,  were  members;  a  jurist  who  would  have 
filled  the  scat  of  Marshall  as  Marshall  filled  it;  of  whom  it  may  be 
said  that,  without  ever  holding  a  judicial  station,  he  was  the  author 
and  finisher  of  the  jurisprudence  of  a  state ;  one  whose  intellect, 
wisdom,  and  uprightness  gave  him  a  control  over  the  opinions  of  all 
the  circles  in  which  he  lived  and  acted,  of  which  we  shall  scarcely 
see  another  example,  and  for  which  this  generation  and  the  country 
are  the  better  to-day :  such  seems  to  me  to  have  been  the  man  who 
has  just  gone  down  to  a  timely  grave.  I  rejoice  to  know  that  the 

3* 


3o  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BHAINERD. 

mother  will  never  be  fully  known  on  earth.  But 
this  woman,  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman  and  child 
of  the  Church,  who  gave  to  the  world  among  her 
descendants  such  men  as  David  and  John  Brainerd 
for  the  pulpit,  Jeremiah  Mason  for  the  bar,  and 
Thomas  Minor  for  the  healing  art,  is  in  no  danger 
of  being  forgotten. 

In  respect  to  the  father  of  the  missionaries,  the 
Hon.  Hezekiah  Brainerd,  tradition  gives  us  some 
reliable  information.  He  is  said  to  have  been  of 
great  personal  dignity  and  self-restraint,  of  rigid 
notions  of  parental  prerogatives  and  authority,  of 
the  strictest  puritanical  views  as  to  religious  ordi- 
nances, of  unbending  integrity  as  a  man  and  a 
public  officer,  and  of  extreme  scrupulousness  in 
his  Christian  life.  From  their  father,  no  doubt, 
David  and  John  Brainerd  inherited  a  constitutional 
tendency  to  that  keen  sensibility,  that  high  consci- 
entiousness, that  self-dissatisfaction,  that  moral  ad- 
hesiveness to  fixed  purposes,  and  that  general  reli- 
giousness which  their  whole  history  so  prominently 
exhibits. 


eighty-first  year  of  his  life  found  his  marvellous  faculties  wholly 

unimpaired. 

"  '  No  pale  gradations  quenched  that  ray.' 

"  Down  to  the  hour  when  the  appointed  shock,  his  first  sickness, 
struck  him,  as  it  might  seem,  in  a  moment,  from  among  the  living, 
he  was  ever  his  great  and  former  self. 

"Ho  is  dead:  and,  though  here  and  there  a  kindred  mind — here 
and  there,  rarer  still,  a  coeval  rnind — survives,  he  has  left  no  one 
beyond  his  immediate  blood  and  race  who  in  the  least  degree  resem- 
bles him." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  31 

But  whatever  personal  influence  these  parents 
may  have  early  exerted  on  David  and  John  Brairi- 
erd,  it  was  destined  to  be  short.  Their  father  died 
when  they  were  respectively  nine  and  seven.  When 
they  reached  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twelve,  they 
lost  their  excellent  mother,  and  thenceforth  were 
orphans,  left  to  the  care  of  relatives,  who,  provi- 
dentially, had  the  disposition  and  ability  to  do 
them  every  kindness.  Their  immediate  family 
consisted  of  nine  brothers  and  sisters.  As  five  of 
these  were  older  than  the  two  missionaries,  and 
several  of  them  well  settled  in  life,  the  two  orphan 
boys  and  a  younger  brother  and  sister  were  not 
without  efficient  advisers  and  protectors. 

The  names  and  birth  of  the  children  of  the  Hon. 
Hezekiah  Brainerd  were  as  follows :  — 

1.  HEZEKIAH  BRALNERD,  Jr.,  born  1708 

2.  DOROTHY  "                  "     1710 

3.  NEHEMIAH  "                 "     1712 

4.  JERUSHA  "                  "     1714 

5.  MARTHA  "     1716 

6.  DAVID  "     1718 

7.  JOHN  "     1720. 

8.  ELIZABETH  "     1722 

9.  ISRAEL  "                  "1725 

Hezekiah  retained  the  homestead  in  Haddam. 
Dr.  Field  says  he  was  deacon  in  the  church,  clerk 
of  the  town,  justice  of  the  peace,  repeatedly  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly,  and  colonel  of  the  militia. 


32  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Among  his  descendants  were  Thomas  Minor, 
M.D.,  and  the  Hon.  Hezekiah  Brainerd,  M.D., 
formerly  of  Haddam. 

Dorothy  Brainerd  married  Lieutenant  David 
Smith.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  her  family. 

The  third  child  of  Hon.  Hezekiah  Brainerd,  father 
of  David,  was  Rev.  Nehemiah  Brainerd,  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  and  settled  in  the  ministry  at  Glas- 
tenbury  (Eastbury),  Conn.  He  is  often  mentioned 
in  Edwards'  "Life  of  Brainerd." 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Brainerd  succeeded  his  cousin, 
Rev.  Chilliab  Brainerd,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
who  was  installed  in  1736,  and  died,  after  two  years' 
pastorship,  January  1,  1739.  The  monument  over 
his  grave  calls  him  "a  zealous  and  faithful  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ."  Rev.  Nehemiah  Brainerd  had 
a  similar  history.  He  graduated  in  1732,  settled 
in  Eastbury  in  1740,  and  died  November  9,  1742, 
aged  thirty-two  years.  The  following  letter,  for 
which  we  are  indebted  to  Rev.  President  Allen, 
of  Northampton,  Mass.,  is  all  we  have  ever  seen 
from  his  pen.  It  was  written  in  a  great  revival, 
when  his  health  was  failing.  It  breathes  the  spirit 
of  David  and  John,  or  rather  it  illustrates  the  spirit 
they  received  from  an  elder  brother.  We  give  it 
verbatim  et  literatim: — 

"To  ye  Revd  MR.  WHEELOCK,  of  Lebanon. 

"  Rev    &  Dear  S'- 

"Yc  Lambs  of  my   Flock  seem  to  entertain  a  great 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  33 

Desire  for  y  coming  and  preaching  to  'em,  and  some 
others  yf  are  older  I  think  joyn  with  'em.  I  entreat 
of  you  yt  in  Brotherly  Love  you  would  answer  our 
request,  and  send  me  word  when  you  intend  to  come 
ye  I  may  warn  a  meeting.  If  you  cant  come  till 
ye  week  after  next,  probably  our  Friend  Buel  and  my 
Brother  [David]  will  be  here,  &  next  Wednesday  I  de- 
sign to  preach  at  Hock-anum,  so  that  day  must  be  ex- 
cepted.  I  trust,  my  dear  Brother,  you'll  come,  if  you  pos- 
sibly can,  &  joyn  forces  with  mine,  &  help  me  under  my 
weakness  &  infirmities,  and  help  gather  in  X's  [Christ's] 
chosen  here.  There  is,  I  trust,  a  great  &  effectual  door 
opened  to  me,  but  there  are  many  adversaries,  especially 
in  ye  Town,  where,  I  suppose,  ye  major  part  are  rather 
opposing,  &  some  are  daring,  hardy  Soldiers  of  Satan  in- 
deed !  Let  us  never  forget  each  other  &  ye  Ch.  of  X  at 
ye  throne  of  Grace. 

"  I  am  yr  sincere  Friend  &  Br, 

"N.  BRAINERD. 

"GLASSENBURY,  Satur:   July  17,  or  1 8,  1741." 

Among  his  descendants  we  find  the  Hon.  Nehe- 
rniah  Brainerd,  A.M.,  repeatedly  a  representative 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut,  and  dea- 
con in  the  church,  and  General  John  Brainerd,  of 
Haddam,  who,  by  a  donation" of  some  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars,  founded  the  "Brainerd  Academy"  in 
Haddam,  and  left  two  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars to  the  Congregational  Church. 

Jerusha  JBrainerd,  David's  second  sister,  mar- 
ried Samuel  Spencer,  of  Haddam,  December  19, 
1732.  She  died  a  little  before  her  brother  David, 


34  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  the  news  was  carried  to  him  when  he  lay  sick 
in  Boston.  President  Edwards  says,  "She  was  a 
sister  between  whom  and  himself  (David)  had  long 
subsisted  a  peculiarly  dear  affection.  But  he  had 
this  comfort  together  with  the  tidings, — a  confi- 
dence of  her  being  gone  to  heaven." 

Martha  Brainerd,  third  sister  of  David  and 
John,  married  General  Joseph  Spencer,  of  East 
Haddam,  a  well-known  major-general  in  the  army 
of  the  Revolution.* 

*  Of  General  Joseph  Spencer,  the  brother-in-law  of  David  Brain- 
erd,  and  also  descended  from  Isaac  Spencer,  Brainerd's  great-grand- 
father, Dr.  Smith,  recently  President  of  Marietta  College,  now  of  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.,  said,  in  an  obituary  of  Mrs.  Martha  Brainerd  Wilson,  of 
Marietta : — 

"  Mrs.  Wilson  was  the  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  Spencer,  of 
Vienna,  Wood  county,  Va.  He  was  the  son  of  Major-General  Joseph 
Spencer,  who  served  with  reputation  with  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the 
Northern  Army  during  the  French  War,  was  a  brigadier-general  in 
the  Continental  Army,  and  in  1776  was  appointed  a  major-general 
of  the  American  Army  of  the  Revolution,  which  he  resigned  in  1778, 
and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, — a  man  whose 
character  won  an  expression  of  high  esteem  from  Washington,  and 
whose  deep-toned  piety,  with  that  of  many  of  his  compatriots,  con- 
tributed much  to  throw  around  that  fearful  struggle  the  sacred  sanc- 
tion of  religion. 

"  In  1794,  Dr.  Spencer,  who  had  held  the  office  of  surgeon  and  aide 
to  his  father  in  the  army,  emigrated  to  the  West,  and,  in  company 
with  the  late  Colonel  Abner  Lord,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  Wood 
county,  below  Marietta,  fronting  five  miles  on  the  Ohio  River.  Dr. 
Spencer  left  a  family  of  eleven  children, — six  sons  and  five  daughters. 
Of  these  sons  three  still  survive,  —  Messrs.  William  and  Brainerd 
Spencer,  of  Vienna,  and  Mr.  George  Spencer,  of  Louisiana.  Of  the 
daughters  only  two — Mrs.  General  Cass,  of  Detroit,  and  Mrs.  Gene- 
ral Hunt,  of  Maumee — are  still  living.  To  the  two  deceased — Mrs. 
Wallace,  wife  of  Rev.  Matthew  Wallace,  of  Indiana,  and  the  late 
Mrs.  Judge  Nye,  whose  character  and  virtues  are  well  remembered 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  35 

David  Brainerds  history  is  already  known, 
and 

John  Brainerds  we  are  to  give  elsewhere. 

Elizabeth  Brainerd,  the  youngest  sister  of  Da- 
vid, and  only  ten  years  old  when  left  an  orphan, 
was  married  to  David  Miller,  of  Middletown,  July 
21,  1743.  Their  descendants,  mostly  residing  in 
Northern  New  York,  are  numerous,  and  generally 
distinguished  for  moral  worth. 

Israel  Brainerd,  David's  youngest  brother, 
shared  in  the  piety  of  the  family.  He  was  a 
member  of  Yale  College  when  summoned  to  Bos- 
ton to  see  his  suffering  brother  David.  President 
Edwards  says,  "This  visit  was  attended  to  Mr. 
Brainerd  with  joy,  because  he  greatly  desired  an 
opportunity  of  some  religious  conversation  with 
him  before  he  died." 

In  this  interview  the  dying  missionary  gave  a 
solemn  charge  to  this  younger  brother  to  live  a 
life  of  self-denial  and  devotedness  to  God.  Among 
other  things,  he  told  him:  "When  ministers  feel 
these  special  gracious  influences  on  their  hearts,  it 
wonderfully  assists  them  to  come  at  the  consciences 
of  men,  and,  as  it  were,  to  handle  them ;  whereas 
without  them,  whatever  reason  and  oratory  we  may 
make  use  of,  we  do  but  make  use  of  stumps  instead 
of  hands.''* 

in  this  community — it  is  now  our  melancholy  duty  to  add  the  name 
of  Mrs.  Wilson." 

*  Memoirs,  pp.  243,  244. 


36  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

But  Israel  was  not  allowed  to  preach  the  gospel. 
He  died  the  following  winter,  1748,  at  New  Haven. 
President  Edwards  describes  him  as  an  "ingenious, 
serious,  studious,  and  hopefully  pious  person." 

The  son  of  the  writer,  while  in  the  Freshman 
class  of  Yale   College   in  1855,  was  sauntering 
through  the  graveyard  of  New  Haven  on  a  cold 
day  in  autumn,  when  his  attention  was  attracted 
by  a  broken   marble   slab   matted  in  the   grass, 
with  the  inscription  underneath.     Some  curiosity 
prompted  him  to  lift  the  stone:   and  what  was  his 
surprise  to  read  his  own  name  of  Brainerd  upon 
it!     He  read  the  whole  epitaph;   "This  stone  was 
erected  in  memory  of  Israel  Brainerd,  a  member 
of  Yale  College,  who  died  January  6,  1748." 
was  the  grave-stone  of  David  Brainerd's  youngest 
brother,  Israel,  above  described. 


LIFE    OF    'JOHN   BR4INERD.  37 


CHAPTER   II. 

JOHN  BKAINERD'S  CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

TOHN  BRAINERD  was  born  at  the  paternal 
^  home,  the  residence  of  his  father,  in  Haddam, 
February  28,  1720.  Concerning  his  childhood  and 
youth  we  have  very  little  certain  knowledge.*  We 
may,  however,  consider  the  circumstances  around 
him,  and  estimate  their  influence  in  forming  his 
character.  In  his  seventh  year  he  lost  his  father, 
in  his  twelfth,  his  mother.  But  before  his  mother's 
death  his  eldest  brother  Hezekiah  was  married  to 
Mary,  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Phineas  Fisk,  the  cler- 
gyman of  Haddam,  and  was  settled  in. the  family 
mansion.  His  elder  brother,  Nehemiah  Braincrd, 
of  Glastenbury,  married  Elizabeth,  another  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fisk's  daughters.  Two  of  his  sisters,  in 
1732  and  1738,  married,  the  one  Samuel  and  the 
other  Joseph  (Major-General)  Spencer,  of  East  Had- 
dam. With  some  one  of  these  families,  connected 
with  him  by  the  closest  ties  of  blood,  and  all  of 
the  highest  respectability  and  eminently  religious, 

*  Webster,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  says  John 
was  born  in  East  Haddam.  This  is  a  mistake:  he  was  born  in  Old 
Haddam. 

4* 


3 8  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

John  Brainerd  found  doubtless  a  good  home  in  his 
double  orphanage.* 

The  Rev.  Phineas  Fisk,  his  pastor,  and  the 
father-in-law  of  his  two  brothers,  is  described  by 
Dr.  Field  "as  one  of  the  best  scholars  in  Connec- 
ticut, who  had  long  been  a  prominent  instructor 
in  the  literary  institution  which  was  afterwards 
established  at  New  Haven,  named  Yale  College." 

How  strict  were  the  principles  of  Mr.  Fisk  is 
shown  by  his  advice  to  David  Brainerd  when  he 
was  under  serious  impressions  at  twenty  years 
of  age.  "I  remember,"  says  Brainerd,  "that  Mr. 
Fisk  advised  me  wholly  to  abandon  young  com- 
pany and  associate  myself  with  grave,  elderly 
people,  which  counsel  I  followed,  "f 

If  John  shared  in  such  counsel  and  followed  it, 
as  we  have  no  doubt  he  to  some  extent  did,  we 
learn  the  Puritan  severity  and  strictness  of  his 
training,  and  whence  both  the  brothers  imbibed  a 
type  of  piety  fitting  them  for  the  high  resolve  and 
patient  endurance  exhibited  in  their  after-lives. 

The  natural  scenery  of  John  Brainerd 's  native 
place,  Haddam,  its  traditions  and  legends,  its  earth- 
quakes and  mysterious  noises,  all  adapted  to  im- 
press the  imagination  of  the  young  and  give  a 
bent  to  character,  are  so  truthfully  and  graphically 
sketched  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Parke,  of  Andover, 


*  Brainerd  Genealogy,  p.  253. 

f  Dwight's  "Life  of  Bramenl,"  p.  35. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  39 

in  his  Memoir  of  Dr.  Emmons,*  that  we  shall 
confer  an  obligation  on  the  reader  by  a  large  quo- 
tation : — 

"Although  Dr.  Emmons  wrote  but  little  concerning 
the  place  of  his  birth,  he  thought  much  of  it.  In  his 
later  age  he  visited  and  re-visited  his  old  home,  with  a 
childlike  joy  that  the  lines  had  fallen  to  him  in  so  plea- 
sant a  place.  His  character  was  doubtless  affected  in 
some  degree  by  the  natural  scenery  and  the  early  tra- 
ditions of  the  township  in  which  he  was  trained.  The 
rock-bound  hills  of  his  native  parish  seem  well  fitted 
to  nurture  his  habit  of  digging  among  the  hard-twisted 
themes  of  theology.  For  many  years  his  father  lived  on 
the  very  verge  of  a  precipice,  near  a  high  and  sharp  ledge 
of  rocks,  at  the  foot  of  which  flowed  a  swift  brook.  The 
rising  grounds  covered  with  the  cedar  and  the  oak,  the 
intervening  meadows,  through  which  flowed  limpid  and 
rapid  streams,  the  'grate  river'  which  the  early  records 
of  the  town  celebrate  as  enriching  its  borders,  the  thrill- 
ing legends  in  regard  to  the  Indian  tribes  who  were  at- 
tracted to  the  fishing-brooks  and  hunting-forests  of  the 
town,  were  not  without  their  effect  upon  him,  schooled 
though  he  was  in  the  stern  processes  of  metaphysics. 
He  knew  what  was  meant  by  a  slight  dash  of  poetic 
superstition.  He  felt  what  an  artist  would  have  ex- 
pressed. His  mind  was  silently  moulded  by  that  which 
a  man  of  more  imaginative  tendencies  would  have  cele- 
brated in  song. 

"The  appropriate  influence  of  the  scenes  in  this  lhill 


*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Emmons,  by  Prof.  E.  A.  Parke,  Boston,  1861,  p. 
2,  ct  passim. 


4o  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

country'  of  Connecticut  has  been  well  developed  by  the 
poet  Brainerd.  It  was  with  his  eye  on  the  romantic 
townships  of  Old  Haddam  and  East  Haddam  that  he 
indited  his  poem  on  the  Connecticut  River,  'the  stream 
of  his  sleeping  fathers,'  along  whose  noble  shores 

"  '  The  tall  steeple  shines 
At  mid-day  higher  than  the  "mountain  pines." 

"  '  Dark  as  the  frost-nipped  leaves  that  strewed  the  ground, 
The  Indian  hunter  here  his  shelter  found, 
Here  cut  his  bow  and  shaped  his  arrows  true, 
Here  built  his  wigwarn  and  his  bark  canoe, 
Speared  the  quick  salmon  leaping  up  the  fall, 
And  slew  the  deer  without  the  rifle-ball.'  "* 

"The  Salmon  River,  so  called  from  the  fish  that  once 
abounded  in  it,  enters  into  the  Connecticut  at  East  Had- 
dam. It  was  a  favorite  retreat  of  the  poet  Brainerd,  as 
its  clear  waters  had  been  for  ages  the  chosen  resort  of 
the  angler  and  its  wooded  banks  had  been  the  home  of 
the  Indian  huntsman.  Brainerd  sings  of  this  river: — j 

"  'There's  much  in  its  wild  history  that  teems 
With  all  that's  superstitious,  and  that  seems 
To  match  our  fancy  and  eke  out  our  dreams, 
In  that  small  brook. 

"  '  Here  Philip  came,  and  Miantonimo, 
And  asked  about  their  fortunes,  long  ago, 
As  Saul  to  Endor,  that  her  witcli  might  show 
Old  Samuel. 

"  'Such  are  the  tales  they  tell.     'Tis  hard  to  rhyme 
About  a  little  and  unnoticed  stream 
That  few  have  heard  of ;   but  it  is  a  theme 
I  chance  to  love  ; 

*  Remains,  p.  60.  f  Ibid.  pp.  139,  141. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  41 

"  '  And  one  day  I  may  tune  my  rye-straw  reed, 
And  whistle  to  the  note  of  many  a  deed 
Done  on  this  river, — which,  if  there  be  need, 
I'll  try  to  prove.'  " 

The  poem  of  Brainerd  on  "The  Black  Fox  of 
Salmon  River,"  and  also  the  one  entitled  "Mat- 
chit  Moodus,"  give  us  fine  specimens  of  the  le- 
gends which  in  the  young  days  of  Emmons  were 
familiar  to  the  natives  of  East  Haddam.*  With 
regard  to  the  Matchit  Moodus,  Rev.  Dr.  Field  re- 
marks : — 

"A  large  tribe  [of  Indians]  inhabited  East  Haddam, 
which  they  called  Machemoodus,  or  the  place  of  noises ; 
from  the  noises  or  earthquakes  which  had  been  heard 
there,  and  which  have  continued  to  the  present  time. 
These  Indians  were  of  a  fierce  and  wretched  character, 
remarkable  for  pawaws  and  the  worship  of  evil  spirits. 
The  noises  from  the  earth,  regarded  as  the  voice  of  their 
god,  confirmed  them  in  their  monstrous  notions  of  religion. 

o        »  o 

An  old  Indian  being  asked  the  reason  of  the  noises,  said, 
lThe  Indian's  God  was  very  angry  because  the  English- 
man's God  came  there. 'f 

"Those  noises  in  East  Haddam  which  caught  the 
attention  of  the  natives  were  not  disregarded  by  the  first 
settlers  and  their  associates,  nor  have  they  been  disre- 
garded by  later  generations.  Seventy  or  eighty  years 
ago,  in  consequence  of  their  greater  frequency  and  vio- 
lence, they  gained  the  attention  of  the  neighboring  towns, 

*  Brainerd's  Literary  Remains,  pp.  141,  147. 

f  A  History  of  the  Towns  of  Haddam  and  East  Haddam.  By 
David  D.  Field,  A.M.,  Pastor  of  the  Church  at'Haddam.  Printed  in 
Middletown,  1814,  p.  4. 

4* 


42  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD, 

and  became  the  subject  of  inquiry  and  discussion  among 
the  learned  and  inquisitive  throughout  the  State." 

Professor  Parke,  in  continuation,  says: — 

"The  Gazetteers  of  the  day  notice  the  fisheries,  the 
navigation,  the  manufacturing  establishments,  the  granite- 
quarries,  of  the  tract  of  country  once  called  Haddam ;  but 
they  fail  to  herald  its  real  glory.  Dr.  Emmons  was  wont 
to  rejoice  that  his  native  township  was  distinguished  for 
its  Puritan  spirit.  The  hard  soil,  the  bracing  air,  the  pure 
waters  of  New  England,  have  done  much  in  forming  its 
peculiar  character ;  but  the  religious  habits  of  its  fathers 
have  done  more.  They  have  started  an  influence  which 
will  continue  to  flow  onward,  and  will  be  felt  even  where 
it  is  not  recognized.  The  Old  Haddam  settlement  may 
be  regarded  as  a  representative  region.  It  represents  that 
part  of  our  land  which,  like  ancient  Numidia,  may  be 
called  '  arida  matrix  leonum'  It  exhibits  the  power  which 
has  been  exerted  over  this  entire  country  by  our  small 
Puritan  communities.  It  illustrates  the  importance  of 
sustaining  with  augmented  vigor  the  schools  and  churches 
in  these  rural  districts  which  have  sent  forth  such  a  pene- 
trating energy  through  the  world.  It  is  estimated  that 
Deacon  Daniel  Brainerd,  the  grandfather  of  David  and 
one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Haddam,  has  had  more 
than  thirty-three  thousand  descendants.  Many  of  them 
have  attained  high  distinction  in  Church  and  State. 
Among  the  natives  of  the  region  formerly  called  Had- 
dam who  have  been  liberally  educated,  are  David  Brain- 
erd, who  alone  gives  importance  to  a  community ;  Nehc- 
miah  Brainerd,  a  pastor  in  Eastbury  (Glastenbury),  Con- 
necticut, who  was  a  classical  instructor  of  David,  his 
younger  brother;  John  Brainerd,  an  eminent  minister, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  43 

who  succeeded  his  brother  David  in  the  Indian  Mission 
and  was  for  twenty-six  years  a  trustee  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege; Nathaniel  Emmons;  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  Pro- 
fessor at  Andover  and  President  of  Williams  College; 
his  brother  also,  George  G.  Griffin,  a  noted  lawyer  and 
theological  writer  in  New  York  City;  Jeremiah  Gates 
Brainerd,  a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Connecticut 
and  the  father  of  John  Gardiner  Calkins  Brainerd,  lthe 
gentle  poet  of  the  gentle  stream ;'  James  Brainerd  Tay- 
lor, and  other  men  of  no  inferior  note  among  the  living 
as  well  as  the  dead.* 

"As  the  maternal  grandfather  of  David  Brainerd  was 
the  minister  of  Haddam  for  twenty-four  years,  as  the 
brother-in-law  of  David  Brainerd,  Mr.  Phineas  Fisk,  the 
eminent  'tutor,'  was  pastor  of  the  same  old  church  for 
the  same  number  of  years,  as  the  father  of  David  Brain- 


*  Since  its  settlement  there  have  been  raised  up  on  the  original 
territory  of  Haddam  the  following  ministers  : — 

David  Brainerd,  Davis  S.  Brainerd, 

John  Brainerd,  Daniel  C.  Tyler, 

Hezekiah  May,  Joseph  Harvey,  D.D., 

Elijah  Brainerd,  Joseph  Vail, 

Jonathan  Hubbard,  Jedediah  Chapman, 

Eleazar  Brainerd,  Elihu  Spencer,  D.D., 

Charles  Dickinson,  George  Hall, 

Henry  M.  Field,  Epaphras  Chapman, 

Chilliab  Brainerd,  Robert  D.  Gardner, 

Nehemiah  Brainerd,  H.  M.  Parsons, 

Israel  Brainerd,  Henry  Fuller, 

Israel  JJrainerd  (2),  Nathaniel  Emmons,  D.D., 

James  Brainerd,  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  D.D., 

Israel  Shailer,  Warren  D.  Jones, 
George  A.  Beckwith. 

[ Contributions  to  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Connecticut,  New  Haven, 
ISfil,  pp.  401,  426.] 


14  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

erd  was  a  man  eminent  for  his  gifts,  and  as  there  "have 
been  numerous  intermarriages  between  the  Brainerds  and 
the  other  ancient  families  of  that  region,  it  is  reasonable 
to  believe  that  the  household  to  which  this  missionary 
belonged  has  left  a  deep,  decided  impress  upon  all  the 
townships  into  which  Old  Haddam  is  now  divided." 

These  descriptions  from  Professor  Parke  have  as 
real  an  application  to  the  case  of  John  Brainerd  as 
to  that  of  Dr.  Emmons.  Haddam  scenery  was 
adapted  to  nourish  that  solitary  musing,  that  con- 
fiding faith  in  the  supernatural,  that  awe  of  God, 
and  that  spirit  of  adventure  and  hardihood  deve- 
loped by  the  missionary  brothers. 

We  can  form  a  very  ready  conception  of  the 
early  life  of  John  Brainerd.  The  writer's  grand- 
father was  his  contemporary  and  a  deacon  in  the 
church  of  Haddam,  only  twelve  years  his  junior, 
being  born  in  1732,  and  died  1815,  aged  eighty- 
four.  My  own  father  was  born  in  1754,  resided 
in  Haddam  fifty  years,  within  three  miles  of  John 
Brainerd's  early  home,  and  in.  possession  of  all  his 
faculties  died  in  Lewis  county,  N.  Y.,  1838,  aged 
eighty-four. 

We  had  enforced  on  us  in  early  life — with  too 
little  effect,  we  fear — many  of  the  principles  which 
formed  the  characters  of  David  and  John  Brain- 
erd one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

A  boy  was  early  taught  a  profound  respect  for 
his  parents,  teachers,  and  guardians,  and  implicit, 
prompt  obedience.  If  he  undertook  to  rebel,  "his 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  45 

will  was  broken ' '  by  persistent  and  adequate  pun- 
ishment. He  was  accustomed  every  morning  and 
evening  to  bow  at  the  family  altar ;  and  the  Bible 
was  his  ordinary  reading-book  in  school.  He  was 
never  allowed  to  close  his  eyes  in  sleep  without 
prayer  on  his  pillow. 

At  a  sufficient  age,  no  caprice,  slight  illness,  no"r 
any  condition  of  roads  or  weather,  was  allowed  to 
detain  him  from  church.  In  the  sanctuary  he  was 
required  to  be  grave,  strictly  attentive,  and  able 
on  his  return  at  least  to  give  the  text.  From  sun- 
down Saturday  evening  until  the  Sabbath  sunset 
his  sports  were  all  suspended,  and  all  secular  read- 
ing laid  aside;  while  the  Bible,  New-England  Pri- 
mer, Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Baxter's  Saints' 
Rest,  (fee.,  were  commended  to  his  ready  attention 
and  cheerfully  pored  over. 

He  was  taught  that  his  blessings  were  abundant 
and  undeserved,  his  evils  relatively  few  and  mer- 
ited, and  that  he  was  not  only  bound  to  content- 
ment, but  gratitude.  He  was  taught  that  time 
was  a  talent  to  be  always  improved ;  that  industry 
was  a  cardinal  virtue,  and  laziness  the  worst  form  of 
original  sin.  Hence  he  must  rise  early,  and  make 
himself  useful  before  he  went  to  school;  must  be 
diligent  there  in  study,  and  be  promptly  home  to 
do  '''chores'  at  evening.  His  whole  time  out  of 
school  must  be  filled  up  by  some  service, — such  as 
bringing  in  fuel  for  the  day,  cutting  potatoes  for 
the  sheep,  feeding  the  swine,  watering  the  horses, 


46  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

picking  the  berries,  gathering  the  vegetables,  spool- 
ing the  yarn,  and  running  all  errands.  He  was  ex- 
pected never  to  be  reluctant,  and  not  often  tired. 

He  was  taught  that  it  was  a  sin  to  find  fault 
with  his  meals,*  his  apparel,  his  tasks,  or  his  lot 
in  life.  Labor  he  was  not  allowed  to  regard  as  a 
Burden,  nor  abstinence  from  any  improper  indul- 
gence as  a  hardship. 

His  clothes,  woolen  and  linen,  for  summer  and 
winter,  were  mostly  spun,  woven,  and  made  up  by 
his  mother  and  sisters  at  home ;  and,  as  he  saw  the 
whole  laborious  process  of  their  fabrication,  he  was 
jubilant  and  grateful  for  two  suits,  with  bright  but- 
tons, a  year.  Rents  were  carefully  closed  and  holes 
patched  in  the  "every-day"  dress,  and  the  Sabbath 
dress  always  kept  new  and  fresh. 

He  was  expected  early  to  have  the  "stops  and 
marks,"  the  "abbreviations,"  the  "multiplication 
table,"  the  "ten  commandments,"  the  "Lord's 
Prayer,"  and  the  "Shorter  Catechism,"  at  his 
tongue's  end. 

Courtesy  was  enjoined  as  a  duty.  He  must  be 
silent  among  his  superiors.  If  addressed  by  older 
persons;  he  must  respond  with  a  bow.  He  was  to 
bow  as  he  entered  and  left  the  school,  and  bow  to 
every  man  or  woman,  old  or  young,  rich  or  poor, 
black  or  white,  whom  he  met  on  the  road.  Special 

*  When  the  writer  complained  of  any  thing  at  table,  his  father 
Would  say:  "You  don't  like  your  mother's  provision.  You  may 
leave  the  table." 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRA1NERD.  47 

punishment  was  visited  on  him  if  he  failed  to  show 
respect  to  the  aged,  the  poor,  the  colored,  or  to  any 
persons  whatever  whom  God  had  visited  with  in- 
firmities. He  was  thus  taught  to  stand  in  awe  of 
the  rights  of  humanity. 

Honesty  was  urged  as  a  religious  duty,  and  un- 
paid debts  were  represented  as  infamy.  He  was 
allowed  to  be  sharp  at  a  bargain,  to  shudder  at 
dependence,  but  still  to  prefer  poverty  to  decep- 
tion or  fraud.  His  industry  was  riot  urged  by 
poverty,  but  by  duty.  Those  who  imposed  upon 
him  early  responsibility  and  restraint  led  the  way 
by  their  example,  arid  commended  this  example 
by  the  prosperity  of  their  fortunes  and  the  re- 
spectability of  their  position  as  the  result  of  these 
virtues.  He  felt  that  they  governed  and  restrained 
him  for  his  good,  and  not  their  own. 

He  learned  to  identify  himself  with  the  interests 
he  was  set  to  promote.  He  claimed  every  acre  of 
his  father's  ample  farm,  and  every  horse  and  ox 
and  cow  and  sheep  became  constructively  his,  and 
he  had  a  name  for  each.  The  waving  harvests, 
the  garnered  sheaves,  the  gathered  fruits,  were  all 
his  own.  And  besides  these,  he  had  his  indivi- 
dual treasures.  He  knew  every  trout-hole  in  the 
streams;  he  was  great  in  building  dams,  snaring 
rabbits,  trapping  squirrels,  and  gathering  chestnuts 
and  walnuts  for  winter  store.  Days  of  election, 
training,  thanksgiving,  and  school-intermissions, 
were  bright  spots  in  his  life.  His  long  winter 


48  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRA1NERD. 

evenings,  made  cheerful  by  sparkling  fires  within 
and  cold  clear  skies  and  ice-crusted  plains  and 
frozen  streams  for  his  sled  and  skates,  were  full 
of  enjoyment.  And  then  he  was  loved  by  those 
whom  he  could  respect,  and  cheered  by  that  future 
for  which  he  was  being  prepared.  Religion  he  was 
taught  to  regard  as  a  necessity  and  luxury,  as  well 
as  a  duty.  He  was  daily  brought  into  contempla- 
tion of  the  Infinite,  and  made  to  regard  himself 
as  ever  on  the  brink  of  an  endless  being.  With 
a  deep  sense  of  obligation,  a  keen,  sensitive  con- 
science, and  a  tender  heart,  the  great  truths  of  re- 
ligion appeared  in  his  eye  as  sublime,  awful,  prac- 
tical realities,  compared  with  which  earth  was  no- 
thing. Thus  he  was  made  brave  before  men  for 
the  right,  while  he  lay  in  the  dust  before  God. 

Such  was  Haddam  training  one  hundred  years 
ago.  Some  may  lift  their  hands  in  horror  at  this 
picture;  but  it  was  a  process  which  made  moral 
heroes.  It  exhibited  a  society  in  which  wealth 
existed  without  idleness  or  profligacy ;  social  ele- 
vation without  arrogance;  labor  without  degrada- 

O  O 

tion;  and  a  piety  which,  by  its  energy  and  martyr- 
endurance,  could  shake  the  world. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  boyhood  of  John 
Brainerd  under  these  influences  was  gloomy  or  joy- 
less :  far  from  it.  Its  activity  was  bliss ;  its  growth 
was  a  spring  of  life ;  its  achievements  were  victories. 
Each  day  garnered  some  benefit ;  and  rising  life, 
marked  by  successive  accumulations,  left  a  smile 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BR41NERD.  49 

on  the  conscience  and  bright  and  reasonable  hopes 
for  the  future. 

We  might  have  desired  that  this  Puritan  train- 
ing had  left  childhood  a  little  larger  indulgence, — 
had  looked  with  interest  at  present  enjoyment  as 
well  as  at  future  good, — had  smiled  a  little  more 
lovingly  on  the  innocent  gambols,  the  ringing 
laughter,  the  irrepressible  mirth  of  boyhood;  and 
had  frowned  less  severely  on  imperfections  cling- 
ing to  human  nature  itself.  We  might  think  that, 
by  insisting  too  much  on  obligation  and  too  little 
on  privilege, — too  much  on  the  law  and  too  little 
on  the  gospel, — too  much  on  the  severity  and  too 
little  on  the  goodness  of  the  Deity, — the  con- 
science may  have  been  stimulated  at  the  expense 
of  the  affections,  and  men  fitted  for  another  world 
at  an  unnecessary  sacrifice  of  their  amiability  and 
happiness  in  the  present  life. 

But  in  leaving  this  Puritan  training,  the  world 
"has  gone  farther  and  fared  worse."  To  repress 
the  iniquity  of  the  age  and  land,  to  save  our  young 
men  for  themselves,  their  country,  and  their  God, 
I  believe  we  shall  gain  most,  not  by  humoring 
childhood's  caprices  and  sneering  at  strict  house- 
holds, strict  governments,  and  strict  Sabbaths,  but 
by  going  back  to  many  of  the  modes  which  gave 
to  the  world  such  men.  as  John  Hampden,  William 
Bradford,  Jonathan  Ed  wards,  Timothy  Dwight,  and 
David  and  John  Brainerd. 

The  son  of  a  tolerably  wealthy  father,  nurtured 

5* 


5o  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  trained  by  a  pious  mother,  the  early  play- 
mate, schoolmate,  and  companion  of  his  sensitive, 
talented,  and  conscientious  brother  David,  John's 
childhood  was  spent  under  the  best  influences  for 
the  conservation  of  his  morals  and  the  develop- 
ment of  his  mind  and  heart.  Probably  he  and 
his  younger  brothers  and  sisters  remained  at  the 
paternal  homestead,  with  the  elder  brother  Heze- 
kiah,  whose  marriage,  in  1731,  with  the  daughter 
of  the  clergyman  of  the  parish,  Rev.  Mr.  Fisk,  as 
before  stated,  would  be  likely  to  furnish  a  good 
home  for  the  orphans. 

I  have  thought  this  rather  detailed  account  of 
the  family  of  the  missionary  Brainerds  might  be 
instructive,  as  illustrating  the  influences  to  which 
they  were  subjected  in  early  life,  and  the  home- 
circles  in  which  they  embalmed  their  early  affec- 
tions, and,  above  all,  the  general  prosperity  and 
blessedness  of  families  trained  conscientiously  in 
the  fear  and  love  of  God.  In  this  case,  at  least, 
the  benediction  descended  to  children,  and  chil- 
dren's children, — even  to  the  fourth  and  fifth 
generation.  "Godliness  is  profitable — to  the  life 
that  now  is." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BR41NERD.  51 


CHAPTER   III. 

JOHN  BRAINERD  IN  YALE  COLLEGE — HIS  BROTHER'S  EXPULSION — ITS 
INJUSTICE EFFECT  ON  JOHN ITS  INFLUENCE  IN  FOUNDING  PRINCE- 
TON COLLEGE — LETTERS,  ETC. 

1VTEHEMIAH  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1732, 
and  settled  in  the  ministry  in  1740. 

As  the  three  younger  brothers,  David,  John,  and 
Israel,  all  successively  entered  Yale  College,  it  is 
probable  that  they  were  influenced  by  the  exam- 
ple of  the  older  brother,  and  all,  moreover,  aided 
by  him  in  their  classical  studies. 

The  early  convictions  and  struggles  of  David 
Brainerd,  which  he  has  related  so  minutely,  were 
doubtless  shared  to  some  extent  by  his  brother, 
brought  up  under  similar  influences  and  only  two 
years  his  junior.  He  entered  the  Freshman  class 
in  Yale  College  in  1742,  and  graduated  in  1746, 
when  he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age.  No  record 
is  preserved  of  his  college  life  and  standing.  The 
confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  wisest  men  of 
New  England  immediately  after  his  graduation  is 
evidence  that  his  moral  deportment  was  correct, 
and  his  scholarship  at  least  respectable. 

As  he  entered  college  the  year  his  beloved  bro- 
ther fell  into  difficulties,  and  was,  as  is  now  be- 


52  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

lieved,  treated  with  great  and  unnecessary  severity 
and  finally  expelled,  the  heart  of  John  must  have 
been  most  sorely  tried. 

Assuming  that  our  readers  are  to  some  extent 
familiar  with  the  Life  of  David  Brainerd,  by  Ed- 
wards, it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  details  of  the 
fault  and  punishment  of  the  eminent  missionary. 
The  story  briefly  told  is  this.  Brainerd  was  sin- 
cerely attached  to  the  revival  party  of  the  times, 
and  wrought  up  to  high  excitement  in  favor  of  a 
religion  of  the  heart  rather  than  a  religion  of  ortho- 
doxy and  cold  forms.  Not  to  the  neglect  of  his 
studies  or  the  corruption  of  his  morals,  but  against 
the  arbitrary  laws  of  his  teachers,*  he  had  attended 
upon  the  preaching  of  men  like  the  sainted  Gilbert 
Tennent.  This  had,  probably,  excited  prejudice 
against  him.  On  a  certain  occasion,  when  Tutor 
Whittlesey  had  led  in  prayer,  and  had  retired  from 
the  chapel  with  the  crowd,  leaving  Brainerd  with 
only  two  or  three  friends  in  the  hall,  a  Freshman 
overheard  Brainerd  say:  "He  has  no  more  grace 
than  that  chair."  A  hard  judgment,  truly,  but  ex- 
cusable if  the  prayer  of  Whittlesey  was  as  brief, 
pointless,  and  heartless  as  some  which  we  have 
heard  in  colleges  and  schools  from  clerical  profes- 
sors. Brainerd  was  imprudent  in  saying  this,  and, 
probably,  uncharitable  in  thinking  it;  but,  as  it 
was  spoken  in  private  chat  among  his  friends,  it 

*  Edwards's  Life  of  Bramerd,  pp.  05,  117,  255. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  53 

was  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  college  authorities 
to  pry  into  the  matter  and  persecute  the  young 
offender.  A  Freshman  heard  him  say  it  of  some- 
body, he  could  not  tell  of  whom.  The  Freshman 
told  a  woman,  and  she  gossiped  the  matter  so 
that  the  authorities  were  put  on  the  scent.  By 
intimidating  Brainerd's  young  companions,  they 
drew  from  them  the  fact  that  it  was  Tutor  Whit- 
tlesey  whom  Brainerd  had  so  severely  judged. 
When  called  to  account,  he  confessed  that  he 
had  done  wrong.  He  ought  to  have  been  for- 
given at  once;  but  the  college  authorities  insisted 
that  he  should  disgrace  himself  for  this  venial  of- 
fence by  a  public  confession  before  the  whole  body 
of  students.  Brainerd,  with  the  spirit  of  a  man, 
refused,  and  was  not  only  expelled, -but  "after- 
wards found  no  place  for  repentance,"  when,  by 
full  confession  of  the  wrong,  and  by  the  powerful 
intercession  of  President  Edwards  and  others,  he 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  take  his  degree.  No  won- 
der "  Brainerd  thought  himself  very  ill  used  in  the 
management  of  this  affair,  and  thought  it  was  in- 
juriously extorted  from  his  friends,  and  then  in- 
juriously required  of  him,  as  if  he  had  committed 
some  open  notorious  crime,  to  humble  himself  be- 
fore the  whole  college  in  the  hall  for  what  he  had 
said  in  private  conversation."*  His  subsequent 
efforts  to  regain  admission  show  how  deeply  the 

*  Edwanls'K  Life. 


54  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

sense  of  injury  was  burned  into  his  heart.  But 
the  authorities  of  Yale  College  allowed  no  candid 
discernment  to  discriminate  between  a  courser  and 
a  plough-horse, — between  a  sensitive  and  high-spi- 
rited genius  and  plodding  obstinacy, — and,  by  their 
persistence,  obliterated  the  name  of  David  Brain- 
erd  forever  from  their  "Triennial  Catalogues." 
Whether  Brainerd  or  the  college  lost  most  by  this 
omission,  I  think  the  world  has  long  since  de- 
cided. 

We  have  no  doubt  that  the  life  of  David  Brain- 
erd was  shortened  by  his  college  persecution.  His 
manuscript  journal  at  Kaunaumeek  develops  the 
most  intense  and  overwhelming  mental  suffering 
from  the  stigma  fastened  on  him.  President  Ed- 
wards bears  testimony  to  his  Christian  spirit  when 
the  negotiation  for  reconciliation  at  New  Haven 
failed.  But  the  blow  was  too  crushing  even  for 
Brainerd's  meekness.  In  his  private  journal  he 
says,  with  a  natural  and  indignant  spirit  savoring 
a  little  of  the  temper  of  the  world : — 

"•New  Haven,  July  9,  1743. — I  was  still  occupied  with 
some  business  depending  on  certain  grandees  for  perform- 
ance. Alas !  how  much  men  may  lord  and  tyrannize 
over  their  fellow  countrymen,  yet  pretend  that  all  their 
treatment  of  them  is  full  of  lenity  and  kindness, — that 
they  owe  them  some  special  regard, — that  they  would 
hardly  treat  another  with  so  much  tenderness,  and  the 
like.  Like  the  Holy  Court  of  Inquisition,  when  they 
put  a  poor  innocent  to  the  rack,  they  tell  him  that  what 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRAINERD.  55 

they  do  is  all  for  the  benefit  of  his  soul !     Lord,  deliver 
my  soul  from  this  temper!" 

John  Wesley,  in  his  "Life  of  Brainerd,"  is 
equally  severe.  He  says,  "Do  those  college  au- 
thorities call  themselves  Christians  ?"  * 

John  Brainerd  must  have  felt  deeply  this  treat- 
ment of  his  elder  and  favorite  brother. 

David's  class  was  the  largest  that  had  ever  en- 
tered Yale  College,  and  he  stood  at  the  head  of  it. 
College  honors  were  then  highly  estimated.  To 
be  stricken  down  in  his  course  and  dismissed  in 
disgrace  was  adapted  not  alone  to  cut  him  to  the 
heart,  but  to  overwhelm  with  disappointment  and 
shame  his  younger  brother,  as  yet  a  timid  Fresh- 
man. Indeed,  the  meanness,  severity,  and  per- 
sistent obstinacy  of  the  authorities  in  this  matter 

*  The  writer  would  greatly  regret,  if  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
told  this  painful  story  should  lead  any  to  infer  that  he  is  not  an 
advocate  of  order  and  subordination  among  college  students.  The 
reverse  is  the  tact.  But  he  may  be  allowed  to  intimate  his  con- 
viction, that  clerical  professors  in  colleges  should  not  sink  them- 
selves into  mere  literary  instructors,  substituting  dignity,  insulation, 
and  cold,  reckless,  and  indiscriminate  punishment  for  pastoral  visita- 
tion, sympathy,  forbearance,  and  admonition.  To  tolerate  irregular- 
ities through  half  a  century,  and  then  begin  reformations  by  select- 
ing the  most  orderly  and  sensitive  among  transgressors  for  punish- 
ment that  the  wicked  may  fear,  strikes  me  as  neither  very  wise  nor 
very  kind.  If  clerical  professors  do  not  exert  a  kind,  Christian  in- 
fluence to  prevent  irregularities,  why  may  not  the  whole  business  of 
college  instruction  and  government  be  left  to  laymen  ?  We  think  we 
have  known  some  instances  of  "college  infirmity"  and  injustice  that 
resembled,  if  they  failed  to  equal,  the  wrong  inflicted  on  David  Brain- 
erd. But  it  is  not  our  province  to  settle  such  questions  here. 


56  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

seem  to  have  shocked  the  sensibilities  of  the  whole 
evangelical  party  in  New  England,  and  to  have  ex- 
tended an  influence  far  into  New  York,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  Pennsylvania.  It  is  thought  that  Old 
Nassau  Hall,  or  Princeton  College,  owed  its  exist- 
ence and  first  form  not  a  little  to  the  sympathy 
of  the  revival  party  with  David  Brainerd  in  his 
wrongs  at  Yale  College. 
Dr.  Field*  says  - 

"  I  once  heard  the  Hon.  John  Dickinson,  son  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Dickinson,  of  Norwalk,  say  that  'the  estab- 
lishment of  Princeton  College  was  owing  to  the  sym- 
pathy felt  for  David  Brainerd  because  the  authorities  of 
Yale  College  would  not  give  him  his  degree,  and  that 
the  plan  of  the  college  was  drawn  up  in  his  father's 
house.'  ' 

In  a  notice  of  Dr.  Field's  remarks  f  on  this  sub- 
ject, that  able  and  reliable  work,  "The  Princeton 
Repertory, "  admits  that  they  are  correct;  "that 
the  men  who  founded  Princeton  College  were  sti- 
mulated to  act  promptly  and  efficiently  in  the 
great  work  by  sympathy  with  the  exiled  student 
of  Yale." 

We  have  testimony  to  the  same  effect  from  an- 
other and  most  reliable  source.  The  Rev.  Archi- 
bald Alexander,  D.D.,  in  his  history  of  "The  Log 
College,"  says:— 

'•"  Sec  Princeton  Review  on  "  Brainerd  Genealogy,"  1857. 
f  Brainerd  Genealogy,  p.  20. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  57 

"Messrs.  Dickinson  and  Burr,  the  former  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Elizabethtown,  and  the  latter 
in  Newark,  took  the  lead  in  this  enterprise.  Both  these 
distinguished  divines  were  graduates  of  Yale  College ;  but 
just  at  this  time  their  minds  probably  experienced  some 
alienation  from  tiieir  alma  mater  on  account  of  the  harsh 
treatment  which  Mr.  David  Brainerd  had  received  from 
the  officers  of  that  college ;  for  he  had  been  expelled 
merely  for  a  harsh  word  spoken  in  private  company  and 
overheard  by  a  student  who  happened  to  be  passing  the 
door,  who  knew  not  to  whom  it  referred. 

"The  attachment  of  all  the  members  of  the  New 
York  Synod  to  Mr.  Brainerd  was  warm,  and  deservedly 
so.  This  affair,  it  is  probable,  quickened  the  zeal  of 
these  excellent  men  to  get  up  a  college  of  their  own. 
Some  years  ago  the  writer  (Dr.  Alexander)  heard  the 
relict  of  the  late  Dr.  Scott,  of  New  Brunswick,  say  that 
when  she  was  a  little  girl  she  heard  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burr 
declare  in  her  father's  house  in  Newark,  'if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  treatment  Mr.  Brainerd  received  at  Yale, 
New  Jersey  College  would  never  have  been  erected.' 
How  many  influences  are  made  to  combine  and  operate 
when  Providence  has  the  design  of  giving  existence  to 
an  institution  which  has  affected,  and  will  still  affect,  the 
happiness  of  thousands." 

This  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  so 
corroborates  the  statements  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Field, 
that  we  may  regard  the  question  as  settled,  that 
the  expulsion  of  David  Brainerd  from  Yale  led  to 
the  founding  of  Princeton  College.  If  so,  it  was 
not  only  evidence  of  the  wisdom  of  Him  "who 


58  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

brings  good  out  of  evil."  but  creditable  alike  to 

o      o 

Brainerd's  worth  and  the  heartiness  of  his  Chris- 
tian friends.  They  made  a  noble  and  enduring 
protest  against  his  wrongs. 

But  whatever  outward  excitement  may  have 
arisen  from  the  expulsion  of  David  Brainerd  from 
Yale  College,  or  whatever  mortification  arid  an- 
guish it  may  have  occasioned  his  brother  John, 
neither  of  the  brothers  seems  to  have  allowed  any 
feeling  to  blind  his  judgment  or  change  his  pur- 
poses. John  went  on  steadily  with  his  studies,  as 
if  nothing  unpleasant  had  occurred.  He  did  not 
admire  the  religious  spirit  of  the  faculty,  and  could 
not  but  feel  the  injustice  to  his  beloved  brother. 
But  he  had  no  complaint  to  make  of  the  compe- 
tence and  fidelity  of  his  instructors.  Colleges  were 
few,  and  their  privileges  precious,  and  he  was  too 
wise  and  considerate  to  abandon  Yale  from  resent- 
ment of  its  despotism  or  his  dislike  of  individual 
professors.  He  knew  that  the  trial  would  be  tem- 
porary and  the  benefits  enduring.  We  find  him, 
therefore,  enrolled  on  the  Catalogue  as  graduating 
at  the  end  of  a  full  four  years'  course  in  1746. 
Not  only  this,  but  we  find  these  older  brothers 
willing  to  send  their  younger  brother,  Israel,  to 
pursue  his  studies  in  the  same  institution.  I  can- 
riot  but  regard  their  whole  conduct  throughout  this 
matter  as  indicative  of  a  most  Christian  temper, 
elevated  above  the  spirit  of  the  world. 

In  consulting  the  Triennial  Catalogue  of  Yale 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  59 

College  for  1857,  the  reader  will  find  that  no  less 
than  twenty  persons  of  the  name  and  kindred  of 
these  brothers  have  received  the  honors  of  that 
institution.  .However  infelicitous  may  have  been 
the  treatment  of  the  warm-hearted  and  over-zeal- 
ous missionary,  no  one  will  doubt  that  his  imme- 
diate kindred  and  family  connections  owe  a  vast 
debt  of  gratitude  to  the  noble  institution  in  whose 
benefits  they  have  so  largely  shared.  May  the 
blessing  of  God  and  the  benedictions  of  good  men 
abide  with  it  for  a  thousand  years  to  come ! 

The  following  letters  addressed  by  David  to  his 
brother  John,  in  college,  are  of  deep  interest,  as 
marking  the  influence  exerted  by  the  elder  upon 
the  younger,  the  dignity  and  delicacy  of  their  fra- 
ternal intercourse,  and  the  confidence  which  they 
reposed  in  the  godly  sincerity  and  earnest  piety  of 
each  other.  In  the  purest  and  noblest  sense  they 
were  "par  nobilefratrum." 

•'  KAUNAUMEEJC,*  ALBANY  Co.,  N.  Y.,  April  30,  1743. 

"DEAR  BROTHER: — 

"I  should  tell  you  'I  long  to  see  you,'  but  my  own 
experience  has  taught  me  that  there  is  no  happiness  and 

*  It  is  now  the  site  of  a  village  about  sixteen  miles  east  of  Albany, 
twenty-four  from  Troy,  and  twenty  west  from  Stockbridge.  The  vil- 
lage is  now  called  Brainerd's  Bridge ;  not  from  the  missionary,  but 
from  Jeremiah  Brainerd,  Esq.,  afterwards  of  Rome,  Oneida  county, 
N.  Y.,  who  early  settled  on  the  spot,  and  built  the  bridge  over  Kinder- 
hook  Creek.  It  contains  a  factory,  a  tavern,  several  stores,  about  forty 
houses,  and  a  good  Presbyterian  church,  with  an  able  pastor.  No  rem- 
nants of  the  Indian  occupants  remain  except  the  apple-trees  which 


60  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

plenary  satisfaction  to  be  enjoyed  in  earthly  friends,  though 
ever  so  near  and  dear,  or  in  any  other  enjoyment,  that  is 
not  in  God  himself.  Therefore,  if  the  God  of  all  grace  be 
pleased  graciously  to  afford  us  each  his  presence  and  grace, 
that  we  may  perform  the  work  and  endure  the  trials  he 
calls  us  to  in  a  most  distressing,  tiresome  wilderness,  till 
we  arrive  at  our  journey's  end,  the  local  distance  at 
which  we  are  held  from  each  other  at  present  is  a  matter 
of  no  great  moment  or  importance  to  either  of  us.  But, 
alas !  the  presence  of  God  is  what  I  want.  I  live  in  the 
most  lonely,  melancholy  desert,  about  eighteen  miles  from 
Albany ;  for  it  was  not  thought  best  that  I  should  go  to 
Delaware  River,  as  I  believe  I  hinted  to  you  in  a  letter 
from  New  York.  I  board  with  a  poor  Scotchman ;  his 
wife  can  scarcely  talk  any  English.  My  diet  consists 
mostly  of  hasty-pudding,  boiled  corn,  bread  baked  in 
ashes,  and  sometimes  a  little  meat  and  butter.  My  lodg- 
ing is  a  little  heap  of  straw  laid  upon  some  boards,  a  little 
way  from  the  ground,  for  it  is  a  log  room,  without  any 
floor,  that  I  lodge  in.  My  work  is  exceedingly  hard  and 
difficult;  I  travel  on  foot  a  mile  and  a  half,  the  worst  of 
ways,  almost  daily,  and  back  again,  for  I  live  so  far  from 
my  Indians.  I  have  not  seen  an  English  person  this 
month.  These,  and  many  other  circumstances  equally 

they  planted,  some  of  which  measure  four  feet  in  diameter.  On  the 
plain,  in  a  bend  of  the  creek  girdled  all  round  by  hills,  tradition 
locates  the  cabin  of  the  missionary.  In  the  vicinity  Indian  graves, 
arrow-heads,  and  hatchets  have  been  found,  indicating  the  place  as 
an  Indian  resort,  for  which  the  fertility  of  its  soil  and  wild  beauty 
of  its  scenery  amply  account.  In  Hopkins'  "Memorial  of  Sergeant's 
Stockbridge  Mission,"  published  about  17GO,  it  is  said  of  Stockbridge, 
"  that  it  had  forty  miles  of  wilderness  on  the  east,  twenty  miles  on 
tlio  west,  and  on  the  north  the  great  and  terrible  wilderness  reach- 
ing to  Canada."  Such  was  the  country  in  the  time  of  Brainerd's 
mission. 


UPE    OF    JOHN   BRA1NERD.  61 

uncomfortable,  attend  me ;  and  yet  my  spiritual  conflicts 
and  distresses  so  far  exceed  all  these,  that  I  scarce  think  ot 
them,  or  hardly  observe  that  I  am  not  entertained  in  the 
most  sumptuous  manner.  The  Lord  grant  that  I  may 
learn  to  'endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ.' 

"As  to  my  success  here,  I  cannot  say  much  yet. 
The  Indians  seem  generally  kind  and  well  disposed  to- 
wards me,  are  mostly  very  attentive  to  my  instructions, 
and  seem  willing  to  be  taught  further.  Two  or  three, 
I  hope,  are  under  some  convictions ;  but  there  seems  to 
be  little  of  the  special  workings  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
among  them  yet ;  which  gives  me  many  a  heart-sinking 
hour.  Sometimes  I  hope  that  God  has  abundant  bless- 
ings in  store  for  them  and  me,  but  at  other  times  I  have 
been  so  overwhelmed  with  distress  that  I  cannot  see 
how  his  dealings  with  me  are  consistent  with  covenant 
love  and  faithfulness ;  and  I  say,  '  Surely  his  tender  mer- 
cies are  clean  gone  forever!'  But,  however,  I  see  I 
needed  all  this  chastisement  already.  It  is  good  for  me  that 
I  have  endured  these  trials,  and  have  had  hitherto  little  or 
no  apparent  success.  Do  not  be  discouraged  by  my  dis- 
tress. I  was  under  great  distress  at  Mr.  Pomroy's  when 
I  saw  you  last,  but  'God  has  been  with  me  of  a  truth' 
since  that ;  he  helped  me  sometimes  sweetly  at  Long 
Island  and  elsewhere.  But  let  us  always  remember  that 
we  must  through  much  tribulation  enter  into  God's  eternal 
kingdom  of  rest  and  peace.  The  righteous  are  scarcely 
saved ;  it  is  an  infinite  wonder  that  we  have  well-grounded 
hopes  of  being  saved  at  all.  For  my  part,  I  feel  the  most 
vile  of  any  creature  living.  Now  all  you  can  do  for  me 
is,  to  pray  incessantly  that  God  would  make  me  humble, 
holy,  resigned,  and  heavenly-minded,  by  all  my  trials. 
Be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might. 

6* 


62  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

Let  us  run,  wrestle,  and  fight,  that  we  may  win  the  prize 
and  obtain  that  complete  happiness,  to  be  'holy  as  God 
is  holy.'  So,  wishing  and  praying  that  you  may  advance 
in  learning  and  grace,  and  be  fit  for  special  service  for 

God, 

"  I  remain,  your  affectionate  brother, 

"DAVID  BRAINERD." 

The  above  letter  savors  of  the  phraseology  of  the 
times  and  the  morbid  temperament  of  the  writer; 
but  the  appeal  which  he  makes  for  a  younger  bro- 
ther's prayers  implies  a  respectful  and  affectionate 
confidence  not  often  existing  in  such  an  intimate 
relation.  It  shows  at  least  how  David  Brainerd 
estimated  the  moral  worth  and  piety  of  his  bro- 
ther John. 

In  December  of  the  same  year  David  writes 
again,  in  a  similar  strain:  — 

"KAUNAUMEEK,  ALBANY  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  27,  1743. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER  : — 

"I  long  to  see  you,  and  to  know  how  you  fare  in 
your  journey  through  a  world  of  inexpressible  sorrow, 
where  we  are  compassed  about  with  'vanity,  confusion, 
and  vexation  of  spirit.'  I  am  more  weary  of  life,  I 
think,  than  I  ever  was.  The  whole  world  appears  to 
me  like  a  huge  vacuum,  a  vast  empty  space,  where  no- 
thing desirable  or,  at  least,  satisfactory  can  possibly  be 
derived ;  and  I  long  dally  to  die  more  and  more  to  it, 
even  though  I  obtain  not  that  comfort  from  spiritual 
things  which  I  earnestly  desire.  Worldly  pleasures,  such 
as  flow  from  greatness,  riches,  and  honors,  and  sensual 
gratifications,  are  infinitely  worse  than  none.  May  the 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  63 

Lord  deliver  us  more  and  more  from  these  vanities.  I 
have  spent  most  of  the  fall  and  winter  hitherto  in  a  very 
weak  state  of  body,  and  sometimes  under  pressing  inward 
trials  and  spiritual  conflicts,  but,  'having  obtained  help 
from  God,  I  continue  to  this  day,'  and  am  now  some- 
what better  in  health  than  I  was  some  time  ago.  I  find 
nothing  more  conducive  to  a  life  of  Christianity  than  a 
diligent,  industrious,  and  faithful  improvement  of  pre- 
cious time.  Let  us  then  faithfully  perform  that  business 
which  is  allotted  to  us  by  Divine  Providence  to  the  ut- 
most of  our  bodily  strength  and  mental  vigor.  Why 
should  we  sink  and  grow  discouraged  with  any  particular 
trials  and  perplexities  which  we  are  called  to  encounter 
in  the  world  ?  Death  and  eternity  are  just  before  us :  a 
few  tossing  billows  more  will  waft  us  into  the  world  of 
spirits,  and,  we  hope,  through  infinite  grace,  into  endless 
pleasures  and  uninterrupted  rest  and  peace.  Let  us  then 
'run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us.'  He- 
brews xii.  i,  2.  And  oh!  that  we  could  depend  more 
upon  the  living  God,  and  less  upon  our  own  wisdom  and 
strength  !  Dear  brother,  may  the  God  of  all  grace  com- 
fort your  heart  and  succeed  your  studies,  and  make  you 
an  instrument  of  good  to  his  people  in  your  day.  This 
is  the  constant  prayer  of 

"Your  affectionate  brother, 

"DAVID  BRAINERD." 

When  David  wrote  the  following  letter,  John 
had  nearly  finished  his  college-course. 

"  CROSSWEEKSUNG   (CROSSWICKS),  N.  J.,  Dec.  28,  1745. 

"VERY  DEAR  BROTHER: — 

"I  am  in  one  continual,  perpetual,  and  uninterrupted 
hurry,  and  Divine  Providence  throws  so  much  upon  me 


64  LIFE    OF  JOHN   BRAINERD. 

that  I  do  not  know  how  it  will  ever  be  otherwise.  May 
I  obtain  mercy  of  God  to  be  faithful  unto  death.  I 
cannot  say  that  I  am  weary  of  my  hurry ;  I  only  want 
strength  and  grace  to  do  more  for  God  than  I  have  ever 
yet  done. 

"  My  dear  brother,  the  Lord  of  heaven,  who  has  car- 
ried me  through  so  many  trials,  bless  you  for  time  and 
eternity,  and  fit  you  to  do  service  for  him  in  the  church 
below  and  to  enjoy  his  blissful  presence  in  his  church 
triumphant. 

"My  dear  brother,  the  time  is  short.  Oh,  let  us  fiU'it 
up  for  God.  Let  us  count  the  sufferings  of  this  present 
time  as  nothing,  if  we  can  but  run  our  race  and  finish 
our  course  with  joy.  Oh,  let  us  strive  to  live  for  God. 
I  bless  the  Lord  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  earth,  but 
only  to  labor  honestly  in  it  for  God,  till  I  shall  accom- 
plish 'as  a  hireling  my  day/  I  think  I  do  not  desire 
to  live  a  minute  for  any  thing  which  earth  can  afford. 
Oh  that  I  could  live  for  none  but  God  till  my  dying 
moment ! 

"  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

"DAVID  BRAINERD." 

In  the  absence  of  other  and  more  direct  testi- 
mony, may  we  not  safely  infer  that  a  college 
student  capable  of  appreciating  such  letters,  and 
deemed  worthy  of  them  by  one  who  knew  him  so 
well,  must  have  been  a  young  man  of  rare  excel- 
lence? We  naturally  consult  the  character  and 
taste  of  our  friends  in  our  epistles  to  them,  so 
that  our  sentiments  and  style  not  only  mirror 
ourselves,  but  our  friends.  As  to  John  Brain- 
erd's  scholarship  we  have  no  testimony.  He 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  65 

graduated  in  course  in  1746;  creditably,  doubt- 
less, but  not  distinguished.  He  numbered  Presi- 
dent Stiles,  Elihu  Spencer,  D.D.,  and  other  emi- 
nent men,  among  his  classmates. 


66  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4INERD. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

JOHH  BRAINERD'S  ENTRANCE  UPON  THE  MINISTRY. 

T17ITH  whom  John  Brainerd  studied  theology 
after  his  graduation  is  not  certainly  known. 
"He  probably  studied  for  a  brief  space  with  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Mills,  of  Ripton,  or  Rev.  Mr.  Bellamy, 
of  Bethlehem."*  It  will  be  remembered  that  he 
was  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Fisk,  pastor  of  the  church  in  his  native  town. 
Precisely  what  time  he  occupied  with  any  or  all 
of  these  is  not  known. 

It  may  be  said  of  men  trained  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  better  class  of  families  in  New  Eng- 
land a  century  ago,  that  their  whole  youth  was 
spent  in  a  school  of  theology;  and  that,  like  Tim- 
othy, from  "their  youth  they  had  known  the 
Scriptures."  This  was  especially  the  case  with 
the.  Brainerds.  Hence,  when  their  literary  course 
was  finished,  they  went  forth  to  preach  the  gospel. 

The  first  we  hear  of  John  Brainerd  after  his 
graduation  is,  that  the  Correspondents^  had  de- 

*  Brainerd  Genealogy,  Dr.  Field,  p.  288. 

f  These   gentlemen   were  the  correspondents,,  in  New  York,  New 
•  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  of  "  The  Honorable  Society  in  Scotland 
for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge." — Edwards,  p.  78. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  67 

signaled  him  to  supply  the  place  of  his  brother 
David,  whose  health  had  so  failed  that  he  was 
compelled  to  discontinue  his  labors. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  application  for 
his  services  among  the  Indians  had  its  origin  in 
the  recommendation  of  David  Brainerd.  This  fact, 
so  far  from  abating,  is  apt  to  increase  our  respect 
for  the  younger  brother ;  for  when  we  bear  in  mind 
the  deep  piety,  the  high  moral  standard,  and  the 
intense  love  to  the  poor  Indians  of  David  Brain- 
erd, connected  with  his  discrimination  of  character 
and  perfect  knowledge  of  John's  qualifications,  it 
was  in  the  highest  degree  honorable  to  be  selected 
as  David's  successor.  It  is  not  often  that  a  pro- 
phet has  honor  in  his  own  country. 

The  intimacy  of  brotherhood  often  abates  mu- 
tual respect.  The  many  minor  shades  of  charac- 
ter which  are  likely  to  be  obvious  in  the  inter- 
course of  brothers,  often  prompts  them  to  look 
abroad  for  those  to  whom  they  are  about  to  con- 
fide their  weighty  responsibilities.  If  no  man  is 
great  to  his  valet-de-chambre,  it  is  because  all  hu- 
man greatness  has  its  narrow  bounds,  which  the 
dullest  intellect  can  ascertain  by  constant  inter- 
course. We  ordinarily  allow  the  imagination  to 
throw  a  veil  over  the  weaknesses,  and  a  halo  over 
the  virtues,  of  those  for  whom  we  cherish  rever- 
ence or  admiration.  Men  are  often  great,  not  by 
what  they  reveal  but  by  what  they  conceal.  The 
world  reveres  not  so  much  the  reality  of  heroes, 


68  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

statesmen,  and  saints,  as  the  drapery  thrown  over 
its  idols  by  a  partial  fancy.  Like  their  own  sha- 
dows, great  men  often  grow  less  as  the  sun  rises 
higher  and  the  daylight  becomes  clearer.  Lapse 
of  time,  distance,  and  obscurity  have  magnified 
some  of  the  ancients  to  demigods,  until  they  seem 
very  great, 

"  Looming  through  the  mist." 

To  be  held  in  the  highest  estimate  by  the  wise 
and  good  associated  with  us  in  the  family,  the 
store,  the  workshop,  the  neighborhood,  is  the  in- 
fallible test  of  moral  weight  and  worth.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  happy  lot  of  John  Brain- 
erd.  Looking  at  the  high  standard  to  which  Da- 
vid Brainerd  held  himself  responsible,  at  the  really 
great  difficulties  of  the  Indian  missionary- work,  at 
the  wonderful  attainments  and  successes  of  David, 
we  might  have  presumed  that  in  the  widest  range 
among  the  wise  and  good  martyr-spirits  of  earth 
he  would  hardly  find  a  man  so  eminent  in  talents, 
piety,  skill,  and  energy,  that  the  mission  could  be 
safely  committed  to  his  hands. 

Whom  did  he,  in  fact,  select?  His  own  brother 
John,  the  playmate  of  his  childhood,  the  companion 
of  his  youth,  the  intimate  associate  of  his  early 
manhood.  He  knew  every  weakness  and  imper- 
fection of  this  brother;  but  lie  also  saw  in  him  such 
a  combination  of  talents  and  grace  that,  above  all 
others,  he  prefers  him  for  the  work. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  69 

Considering  the  nature  of  the  responsibility  and 
the  relation  of  the  parties,  there  never  has  been 
higher  confidence  reposed  by  man  in  man  than  is 
here  shown  by  David  in  his  brother  John.  He 
implies  that  his  brother,  by  purity  of  motive,  ho- 
liness of  heart,  by  industry,  skill,  and  power,  is 
worthy  to  be  his  successor;  and  this  confidence 
was  never  disappointed. 

We  shall  defer  our  remarks  on  the  origin  and 
history  of  the  Indian  Missions  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  to  the  next  chapter. 

Our  first  introduction  to  John  Brainerd  after  his 
graduation  is  by  the  diary  of  his  brother  David, 
under  the  date  of  April  10,  1747.  He  says, — 

"  Spent  the  forenoon  in  Presbyterial  business.  In  the 
afternoon  rode  to  Elizabethtown  ;  found  my  brother  John 
there;  spent  some  time  in  conversation  with  him." 


70  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN  ERD. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CONDITION   OF   THE    INDIAN    MISSIONS   AT   THE   TIME   THE   REV.    JOHN 
BRAINEED   ENTERED   UPON    HIS   LABORS. 

TjlROM  the  first  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Ply- 
mouth  Rock,  in  1620,  the  obligation  to  attempt 
the  conversion  of  the  Indians  to  Christianity  was 
recognized  and,  to  some  extent,  essayed.  But  the 
struggles  of  the  colonists  for  sustenance  gave  them 
little  leisure  for  the  work,  and  the  bitter  hostility 
of  the  red  men  toward  the  whites  led  to  wars, 
antipathies,  and  resentments,  alike  unfavorable  to 
the  missionary  spirit  of  the  colonists  and  the  dis- 
position of  the  Indians  to  receive  instruction  from 
those  whom  they  regarded  as  invaders  of  their 
lands  and  heritage.  But  some  good  men  rose 
above  the  general  apathy  and  prejudice,  and,  with 
a  martyr  spirit,  attempted  the  conversion  of  their 
Indian  neighbors. 

As  early  as  1646,  the  Rev.  John  Eliot  formed 
a  settlement  of  praying  Indians  at  Newton,  Mass. ; 
and  in  1661  organized  a  church  of  Indians  at  Na- 
tick.  Like  Paul,  he  travelled  extensively,  preach- 
ing to  the  sons  of  the  forest  on  the  capes  and 
islands  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Plymouth  Plan- 
tations. He  translated  the  Bible  and  other  pious 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRslINERD.  71 

books  into  the  Indian  language.  Of  his  Bible  fif- 
teen hundred  copies  were  published  in  1663,  and 
two  thousand  in  1685.  He  died  in  1690,  aged 
eighty-five,  and  has  ever  since  been  honored  with 
the  title  of  the  "Apostle  to  the  Indians.'' 

Still  earlier  than  Eliot  on  the  islands  of  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard  and  Nantucket,  Thomas  Mayhcw 
began  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Indians  in  1643 ; 
and  for  five  generations,  until  the  death  of  Zecha- 
riah  Mayhew  in  1813,  the  May  hew  family  kept 
up  these  labors.  As  a  result,  at  Gayhead,  in  the 
western  part  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  there  is  still 
an  Indian  property  of  four  thousand  acres  held,  as 
tenants  in  common,  by  the  descendants  of  May- 
hew's  Indians.  The  State  of  Massachusetts  fur- 
nishes them  with  churches  and  schools. 

In  the  Plymouth  colony  in  1673,  there  were 
twenty-four  regular  churches  of  Christian  Indians, 
taught  not  only  the  gospel,  but  the  men  to  farm, 
and  the  women  to  spin,  weave,  sew,  knit,  cook, 
and  keep  house.* 

These  missionary  labors  and  successes,  glow- 
ingly reported  in  England,  stimulated  there  the 
formation  of  societies,  with  the  collection  of  funds, 
to  aid  the  good  work  in  America.  Among  these 
societies  one  was  formed  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
in  1709,  called  "  The  Honorable  Society  for  Pro- 
pagating Christian  Knowledge."  In  1730  this 

*  Tracy's  History  oi  American  Missions. 


72  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

society  appointed  correspondents,  or  a  commission, 
in  the  United  States,  to  settle  its  fields  of  labor,  de- 
signate its  missionaries,  and  disburse  its  American 
charities.  They  employed  a  Rev.  Mr.  Horton,  who 
labored  with  considerable  success  among  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  Pequots,  Nantics,  Mohegans,  and  Mon- 
tauks.  In  ffiift  the  Rev.  John  Sergeant  left  his 
tutorship  in  Yale  College,  commenced  a  mission 
at  Stockbridge,  in  a  howling  wilderness,  and  la- 
bored there  fifteen  years,  until  his  death  in  1749. 
His  house  is  still  standing  in  the  vicinity  of  that 
beautiful  village.  When  he  entered  on  his  labors, 
he  found  on  the  spot  only  fifty  wild  savages.  He 
left  them  two  hundred  and  eighteen  in  number, 
with  neat  dwellings,  cultivated  farms,  a  church, 
and  schools  of  about  one  hundred  pupils.  His 
church  consisted  of  forty -two  communicants.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  great  Jonathan  Edwards,  the 
biographer  of  David  Brainerd. 

It  is  too  common  to  censure  the  severity  of  the 
Pilgrims  toward  the  Indians.  From  what  we  have 
stated,  it  will  be  seen  that  had  succeeding  genera- 
tions imbibed  their  benevolence  and  charity  toward 
the  aborigines,  and  had  their  spirit  spread  over  the 
land,  we  should  not  now  be  compelled  to  reproach 
ourselves  at  the  sepulchres  of  so  many  dead  nations. 
The  fact  that  some  few  remnants  of  once  powerful 
tribes  now  exist  is  to  be  attributed  to  no  govern- 
mental care,  no  sympathy  of  poets  or  philanthro- 
pists outside  the  Church,  but  to  the  humane  and 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  73 

protecting  power  of  Christianity.  Would  that  this 
influence  had  been  more  earnest,  efficient,  and  uni- 
versal ! 

We  must  not  overlook,  in  this  connection,  the 
efforts  of  our  Moravian  brethren.  As  early  as 
1740,  Christian  Henry  Bauch  commenced  a  mis- 
sion among  the  Indians  in  Eastern  New  York, 
near  Sharon,  Conn.  He  had  great  success;  but 
causes  which  have  proved  fatal  to  most  other  mis- 
sions among  the  aborigines  compelled  him  to  re- 
move. Rum  sellers,  land  speculators,  and  such 
other  bad  men  as  hang  on  the  skirts  of  civiliza- 
tion and  barbarism,  conspired  against  him.  These 
-  drew  to  their  aid  such  legislative  authority  and 
such  persecutions  that  the  Moravians  were  obliged 
to  retire  to  Bethlehem,  in  the  deeper  forests  of 
Pennsylvania.  They  also  had  establishments  at 
Gnadenhiitten,  above  the  present  borough  of  Eas- 
ton,  where,  as  is  well  known,  their  converts  suf- 
fered a  dreadful  massacre  in  1755,  by  Indians  in 
the  French  interest.  The  Moravian  brethren  re- 
treated deeper  and  deeper  into  the  forest.  They 
had  successively  missions  at  Friedenhiitten,  on  the 
Susquehanna,  at  Friedenstadt,  on  the  Ohio,  at  Gna- 
denhiitten, on  the  Muskinghum,  and  finally  near 
Detroit,  in  Michigan.  They  first  and  last  num- 
bered hundreds  of  sincere  converts;  but,  followed 
everywhere;  by  the  same  bad  men  who  broke  up 
their  first  mission,  and  subjected  to  constant  inter- 
ruption by  political  jealousy  and  the  wars  of  the 


74  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

period,  they  finally  settled,  in  1792,  on  twenty- 
five  thousand  acres  of  land  assigned  them  by  the 
British  Government  on  the  river  Thames,  in 
Canada. 


"  The  Indian  Apple  Tree  at  Kannaumeck,  now  Brainerd,  N.  f."— P.  75. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  77 

New  Lebanon,  Columbia  county.  His  letter  to  his 
brother  John  in  college,  already  quoted,  describes 
his  fare  and  his  labors.  He  studied  the  language, 
composed  simple  forms  of  prayer,  translated  the 
Bible,  taught  the  children  to  sing,  set  up  a  school, 
living  in  a  hut  erected  by  his  own  hands,  and  bring- 
ing his  bread,  when  he  had  any,  a  distance  of  fif- 
teen miles.  He  entered  on  his  labors  at  Kau- 
naumeek  April  1,  1743,  and  continued  them  until 
March,  1744.  His  Indians  were  then  advised  to 
go  to  Stockbridge  and  put  themselves  under  the 
care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sergeant.  Mr.  Brainerd 
himself  was  instructed  to  found  a  new  mission  in 
North  Jersey  and  Eastern  Pennsylvania;  making 
the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  the  present  site  of 
Easton,  Pa.,  the  centre  of  his  labors.  May  9, 
1744,  he  left  New  England,  crossed  the  Hudson 
River  at  Fishkill,  and  went  to  Goshen;  and  from 
thence  began  his  journey  of  one  hundred  miles  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  Delaware  "through  a  desolate 
and  hideous  country  above  Jersey."  There  were 
few  settlements.  He  was  alone  in  a  strange  wil- 
derness, and  was,  he  says,  "  considerably  disconso- 

account ;  afterwards  the  name  was  given  to  the  Indians  of  the  settle- 
ment. Our  village  now  bears  the  name  of  the  Indian  missionary. 

"  And  now,  dear  brother  in  Christ,  may  the  savory  influence  of 
the  several  memoirs  of  David  Brainerd,  and  that  of  his  brother 
John,  which  you  are  about  to  add  to  them,  permeate  the  whole 
membership  of  the  Church,  enlarged  and  extended,  over  the  entire 
world. 

"Yours,  fraternally, 

"P.  BARBOUU." 


78  .      LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

late."  May  13,  be  reached  the  Forks,  and  entered 
at  once  on  his  labors. 

Then,  as  now,  the  region  was  one  of  great  pic- 
turesque beauty.  Indeed,  in  the  wildness  of  nature 
the  scenery  around  must  have  approached  the  sub- 
lime; but  the  missionary  was  too  much  absorbed 
in  his  work  to  note  attractions  of  river,  hill,  or 
mountain. 

These  Forks  of  the  Delaware  Brainerd  has  made 
classical  by  his  residence  and  labors.  Travellers 
seek  out  the  places  associated  with  his  name,  and 
Easton  has  honored  his  memory  by  naming  one 
of  the  sanctuaries  there  the  "Brainerd  Church." 
May  his  spirit  ever  characterize  that  congrega- 
tion.* 


*  The  term  "  Forks  of  the  Delaware"  was  not  applied  exclusively 
to  the  point  of  junction  of  the  rivers  Delaware  and  Lehigh,  but  also 
designated  the  whole  delta  or  triangle  back  to  the  Kittaning  Moun- 
tain, the  first  range  of  the  great  Appalachian  chain.  Into  this  tri- 
angle a  few  Irish  and  German  settlers  had  penetrated  as  early  as 
1730.  The  presence  of  these  white  settlers  did  something  to  mitigate 
the  solitude  and  insulation  of  the  early  missionary.  In  the  Histori- 
cal Collections  of  Pennsylvania  it  is  said:  "With  the  aid  of  a  poor 
interpreter  he  translated  prayers  into  the  Delaware  language.  He 
speaks  of  the  Indians  of  this  region  as  excessively  given  to  idolatry, 
as  having  contracted  strong  prejudices  against  Christianity  on  ac- 
count of  the  wicked  lives  of  the  whites  with  whom  they  had  inter- 
course ;  as  being  extremely  attached  to  the  customs  and  fabulous  no- 
tions of  their  fathers,  one  of  which  was,  '  that  it  was  not  the  same 
God  made  them  who  made  the  whites,  but  another  god,  who  com- 
manded them  to  live  by  hunting,  &c.'  Besides  this,  they  were  made 
mad  by  their  powaws,  who  were  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  en- 
chanting them  in  a  very  distressing  manner.  Nevertheless,  some 
converts  .were  gathered,  and  among  them  his  interpreter,  Moses 
Finda  Fatuary,  and  his  wife. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  79 

In  July,  1744,  Brainerd  made  his  way  on  horse- 
back over  the  mountains  to  the  Susquehanna, 
having  been  invited  thither  by  some  Indians 
whom  he  found  at  Kansesaushong  (Catasauqua) ; 
and  in  May,  1745,  he  again  visited  that  region, 
and  followed  the  Susquehanna  to  Duncan's  Island, 
where  he  had  "some  encouragement  from  the  good 
attention  of  the  Indians." 

On  June  19  of  the  same  year,  he  began  his 
labors  at  Cross weeksung,  N.  J.,  among  the  Jersey 
Indians,  the  field  of  his  greatest  successes.  For 
a  detailed  account  of  the  wonderful  power  of  God 
which  attended  his  labors  here,  we  must  refer  the 

"  Brainerd  built  himself  a  cabin  with  his  own  hands,  not  far  from 
Bethel  Church,  and  on  moving  into  it,  having,  as  he  says,  'a  happy 
opportunity  of  being  retired  in  a  house  of  his  own,'  he  set  apart  a 
day  for  secret  prayer  and  fasting.  This  cabin  was  still  standing 
in  the  memory  of  Mr.  John  Wilson.  Brainerd  frequently  speaks 
of  preaching  to  the  white  people  of  the  '  Forks,'  the  Irish,  the  Low 
Dutch,  the  High  Dutch ;  of  preaching  to  them  in  the  wilderness  on 
the  sunny  side  of  a  hill,  when  he  had  a  considerable  assembly,  con- 
sisting of  people  who  lived,  many  of  them,  more  than  thirty  miles 
asunder." 

The  house  of  Brainerd  was  at  Lower  Mt.  Bethel,  in  what  was 
called  the  Forks  North,  to  distinguish  them  from  Forks  South,  now 
Allen  township. 

The  traveller  who  glides  up  the  valley  of  the  Delaware  in  a 
railroad-car  and  visits  Easton,  thronged  by  its  busy  thousands,  en- 
riched by  commerce,  mineral  resources,  and  manufacturing  industry ; 
furnished  with  its  classic  temples  for  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  its 
courts  of  justice,  its  rising  college  and  abundant  schools  ;  its  general 
intelligence,  morality,  and  refinement,  can  hardly  realize  the  fact 
that  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago  David  Brainerd,  on  tho 
same  spot,  gathered  in,  under  forest  trees  or  in  smoky  wigwams, 
wild  pagans  to  hear  the  first  tidings  of  Jesus  Christ. — Historical 
Collections  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  522. 


80  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

reader  to  his  well-known  memoir,  published  first 
by  Jonathan  Edwards,  in  1749,  at  Boston.  Edi- 
tions of  his  Life  and  Labors  were  subsequently 
republished  in  the  last  century  by  the  Rev.  John 
Wesley,  by  the  Rev.  Philip  Doddridge,  and  others. 
More  recently  they  have  been  republished  in  this 
country  by  the  Rev.  S.  E.  D wight,  D.D.,  by  the 
American  Tract  Society,  and  in  Sparks'  American 
Biography.  Brainerd's  memoir  is  a  classic  in  the 
literature  of  the  Church,  and  we  need  not  tran- 
scribe any  portion  of  it  in  this  volume.  But  we 
may  be  allowed  to  quote  the  testimony  of  a  man 
whose  extreme  apprehension  of  fanaticism  in  re- 
vivals of  religion  has  been  criticized,  whose  calm 
judgment  the  Church  has  greatly  approved,  and 
whose  caution  in  language  gives  weight  to  his 
opinions.  The  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.,  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, in  his  book  on  American  Missions, 


"At  Crossweeksung,  his  success  was  perhaps  without  a 
parallel  in  heathen  missions  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 
For  his  exertions  were  made  single-handed ;  he  had  no 
fellow-laborer  beyond  a  little  occasional  assistance  from 
two  or  three  neighboring  brethren  in  the  ministry.  In 
opposition  to  discouragements  which  would  have  sub- 
dued any  ordinary  mind,  and  which  went  near  to  van- 
quish his  own,  he  long  persevered,  with  no  prospect  of 
obtaining  the  object  of  his  wishes  and  his  agonizing 
prayers,  in  the  conversion  of  those  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered." * 

*  Presbyterian  Missions,  p.  40 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  81 

Dr.  Green's  language  is  strong,  but  true. 

Of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  open  the 
ears  of  savages  to  the  truth,  to  soften  their  hearts, 
bend  their  wills,  curb  their  passions,  and  inspire 
them  with  meekness,  gentleness,  docility,  reve- 
rence, watchfulness,  faith,  love,  joy,  and  practical 
obedience,  there  has  been  no  higher  illustration 
since  the  day  of  Pentecost  than  in  the  case  of  the 
Indians  of  New  Jersey,  under  the  ministry  of 
Brainerd.  His  frequent  revivals,  marked  by  cries 
of  anxiety,  tears  of  contrition,  earnestness  of  prayer, 
fulness  of  transformation  evinced  in  subsequent  ho- 
liness, have  encouraged  for  a  hundred  years  past 
the  whole  Church  of  God.  Henry  Martyn,  Clau- 
dius Buchanan,  and  their  thousand  successors  in  the 
missionary  work,  have  been  stimulated  by  Brain- 
erd's  example  and  successes.  Pastors  in  every  land 
for  three  generations  have  toiled  in  brighter  hope, 
as  they  saw  in  the  results  of  Brainerd's  labors  that 
God  is  able  to  make  a  short  work  of  the  world's 
conversion. 

In  the  year  1746  he  carried  out  a  plan  to  estab- 
blish  the  Indians  at  Cranberry,  N.  J.  At  these 
two  places,  Crossweeksung  and  Cranberry,  in 
eleven  months,  he  baptized  thirty-eight  adults 
and  thirty-seven  infants;  and  concerning  the  cha- 
racter of  these  converts  Mr.  McKnight,  of  Cran- 
berry, testifies,  they  "may  be  proposed  as  exam- 
ples of  piety  and  godliness  to  all  the  white  people 
around  them." 


82  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

That  such  results  were  not  reached  without  great 
toil  may  well  be  believed.  Under  date  of  Novem- 
ber 5,  1745,  Brainerd  says: — 

"I  have  now  rode  (horseback)  more  than  three  thou- 
sand miles  since  March  last,  in  my  own  proper  business 
as  a  missionary.  I  have  taken  pains  to  look  out  for  a 
companion  or  colleague  to  travel  with  me,  but  have  not 
as  yet  found  any  person  qualified  or  disposed  for  this 
good  work. 

"The  several  companies  of  Indians  to  whom  I  have 
preached  live  at  great  distances  from  each  other.  It  is 
more  than  seventy  miles  from  Crossweeksung,  in  New 
Jersey,  to  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  in  Pennsylvania ; 
and  thence,  to  the  Indians  I  visited  on  the  Susquehanna, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles." 

With  all  the  modern  appliances  of  railroads  and 
steam,  a  missionary  travel  in  six  months  of  three 
thousand  miles  over  a  field  two  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  in  extent  would  be  thought  marvellous.  What 
must  it  have  been  to  the  young,  pale,  consumptive 
Brainerd,  threading  alone  the  mountain-wilds  and 
tangled  forests  of  Pennsylvania! 

It  will  scarcely  be  credited  that,  in  addition  to 
all  these  burdens,  Brainerd  was  followed  by  con- 
stant persecution  and  slander  on  the  part  of  those 
whose  profits  had  been  lessened  by  the  temperance 
of  his  converts,  and  of  the  greedy  speculators  who 
were  anxious  to  grasp  the  lands  of  the  Indians. 
But  he  went  on  with  his  work  in  spite  of  all  hard- 
ships and  opposition.  Auu\ 

His  life,  however,  was  wearing  out.     April  11, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  83 

C 

1747",  far  gone  with  consumption,  yet  still  brave 
and  enterprising,  he  undertook  his  last  journey 
from  Cranberry  to  the  Susquehanna.  To  avoid 
the  Lehigh  Mountains,  he  determined  to  come  to 
Philadelphia,  go  first  to  the  river,  and  then  follow 
it  up  to  the  field  of  his  mission.  The  details  of 
this  journey  are  too  painful  to  dwell  upon. 

August  19,  he  struck  the  river  near  Harrisburg. 
August  20,  "having  lain  in  a  cold  sweat  all  night, 
he  coughed  up  much  bloody  matter  in  the  morn- 
ing." August  22. — "All  night  lodged  in  the  open 
woods.  Enjoyed  some  liberty  in  secret  prayer, 
and  was  helped  to  remember  dear  friends,  as  well 
as  my  dear  flock  and  the  Church  of  God." 

August  23. — "Arrived  at  Shamoking  [now  Sun- 
bury],  and  the  next  day  (being  Sabbath)  discoursed 
to  the  Indian  king  and  others  upon  divine  things. 
8pent  most  of  the  day  in  those  exercises." 

September  1,  he  started  for  the  great  island,  fifty 
miles  farther  up  the  river;  and  lodged  at  night  in 
the  woods. 

September  6. — "Spent  the  day  in  a  very  weak 
state,  coughing  and  spitting  blood.  Was  asked  to 
do  very  little,  except  to  discourse  a  while  on  divine 
things  to  my  own  people."  By  his  "own  people" 
he  means  the  six  Indians  who  accompanied  him  as 
guides  and  protectors. 

September  8,  he  began  his  return,  reaching  Phi- 
ladelphia on  the  17th,  arid  his  Indian  congregation 
at  Cranberry  on  the  20th. 


84  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

He  spent  one  month  at  Cranberry,  struggling 
with  disease  which  almost  entirely  unfitted  him 
for  labor.  On  the  20th  of  November  he  left  his 
people,  and  with  much  difficulty  made  his  way  to 
Elizabethtown  ;  and  there,  in  the  house  of  his  hos- 
pitable friend,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  he  lay 
sick  most  of  the  time  until  the  middle  of  March. 
Then,  by  taking  two  days  for  the  journey,  he  re- 
visited Cranberry,  It  was  for  the  last  time.  Re- 
maining two  days  only,  he  returned  to  Elizabeth- 
town.  His  missionary  toils  were  ended.  By  his 
personal  efforts  he  had  done  something.  By  his 
indomitable  spirit,  his  entire  consecration,  by  forc- 
ing himself  on  in  the  face  of  obstacles  and  suffer- 
ings at  the  call  of  duty,  he  has  furnished  a  model, 
stimulated  a  zeal,  and  suggested  an  energy,  by 
which  his  influence  will  tell  on  the  Church  of 
God  in  all  time  to  come.  "He  still  lives"  in  the 
increased  devotion  and  endurance  of  thousands 
of  sturdier  and  longer-lived  men.  It  is  a  com- 
plete summer,  however  brief,  that  ripens  a  full 
harvest. 

Convinced  that  all  efforts  to  labor  on  were  now 
in  vain,  he  advised  the  Correspondents,  and  they 
had  sent,  by  his  consent,  for  his  brother  John,  to 
take  his  place  in  this  missionary  field. 

It  would  seem  that  David  had  not  yet  surren- 
dered all  hope  of  resuming,  after  a  season  of  rest 
in  New  England,  his  labors  in  the  field.  He  had 
become  used  to  travel  and  preach  under  the  press- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BR Al NERD.  85 

ure  of  pain  and  weakness.  With  all  his  ailments, 
he  had,  nevertheless,  with  difficulty  gained  his 
own  consent  to  intermit  labor.  And  there  were 
ties  binding  him  to  life.  He  was  a  young  man, 
but  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  He  had  won  the 
heart  and  promised  hand  of  one  of  the  most  intel- 
ligent, pious,  and  lovely  daughters  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  he  had  gained  the  confidence  and  friendship 
of  the  best  men  of  his  age ;  he  had  had  eminent 
success  in  his  glorious  work,  so  that  his  name  was 
mentioned  with  love  and  veneration  not  only  in 
the  wigwams  of  the  savages  whom  he  had  edu- 
cated, but  in  the  praying  circles  of  London  and 
Edinburgh.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  a  young 
man  with  such  ties  should  cling  to  life,  and  be 
slow  to  admit  that  his  work  on  earth  was  done. 
But  if  he  hoped  for  life,  it  was  "against  hope." 
His  entire  physical  prostration, — confining  him  to 
his  chamber  for  months  in  the  house  of  his  friend, 
his  hospitable  friend, — his  cough,  his  hemorrhages, 
his  night-sweats,  were  all  fingers  pointing  to  an 
early  grave.  They  must  have  thrown  over  his 
mind  a  foreboding  that  he  had  taken  his  final 
leave  of  his  beloved  Indian  church,  and  that  he 
was  going  home  to  New  England  to  die.  But 
whatever  pain  or  presentiment  of  death  might  do 
to  sadden,  they  did. not  overwhelm  him. 

On  the  7th  of  April  he  says:  "In  the  after- 
noon I  rode  to  Newark,  to  marry  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dickinson,  and  in  the  evening  performed  that  ser- 


86  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

vice.*  Afterwards  rode  home  to  Elizabethtown 
in  a  pleasant  frame,  full  of  compassion  and  sweet- 
ness." 

April  9,  he  appears  'to  have  occupied  himself 
in  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  then  holding  its 
sessions  in  Newark.  He  spent  also  the  forenoon 
of  the  10th  in  Presbyterial  business;  and,  in  the 
afternoon  of  that  day  returning  to  Elizabethtown, 
he  says:  "I  found  my  brother  John  there.  Spent 
some  time  in  conversation  with  him ;  was  extremely 
weak  and  out-done." 

The  meeting  and  conversation  of  these  brothers 
must,  in  truth,  strike  the  reader  as  deeply  solemn, 
— almost  sublime.  The  elder  had  been  an  exile 
for  Christ  among  savages,  dwelt  in  a  forest  hovel, 

*  As  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson  is  often  mentioned  in  these 
pages,  a  brief  account  of  him  may  be  interesting.  He  was  born  in 
Hatfield,  Mass.,  April  22,  1688,  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1706,  and 
ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  in  Fairfield,  Conn.,  September  20, 
1709.  He  began  to  preach  in  New  Jersey  in  1707,  and  his  field  of 
labor  embraced  not  only  Elizabethtown,  but  Rahway,  Westfield,  Con- 
necticut Farms,  and  Springfield.  He  had  more  agency  in  founding 
the  College  of  Princeton  than  any  other  man.  It  is  said  that  the  first 
charter  granted  by  Governor  James  Hamilton,  afterwards  renewed 
by  Governor  Belcher,  was  drawn  up  in  Mr.  Dickinson's  house  (see  p. 
56)  in  1746.  He  was  made  the  first  President,  but  died  October  7, 
1747,  two  days  before  David  Brainerd,  aged  fifty-nine.  It  was  a 
second  wife  to  whom  he  was  married  by  Brainerd  one  year  before. 
He  and  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  of  Newark,  and  Rev.  Ebenezer  Pem- 
berton,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  constituted  the  clerical  correspond- 
ents of  the  "Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge"  under 
which  Brainerd  labored.  Dr.  Bellamy  speaks  of  him  as  the  "great 
Mr.  Dickinson."  As  a  wise  counsellor  and  warm  friend  of  the 
Brainerd  brothers,  he  deserves  this  notice  in  the  account  of  their 
lives. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  87 

pillowed  his  head  on  the  hard  ground,  fed  often  on 
parched  corn,  been  lost  sometimes  in  the  wilder- 
ness, sometimes  maligned  and  slandered  by  the 
enemies  of  God  and  man.  He  had  toiled  and  suf- 
fered until  the  energies  of  nature  itself  failed,  and 
he  was  sinking  to  an  early  grave.  The  younger 
brother,  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  of  good  family, 
easy  circumstances,  and  finished  education,  had 
been  "sent  for;"  and,  with  a  wonderful  abnega- 
tion of  self  and  the  world,  with  a  martyr-love  to 
Christ  and  unwavering  submission  to  duty,  he  had 
come  to  assume  the  labors  which  had  crushed  an 
elder  brother.- 

"The  Correspondents,"  says  President  Edwards, 
"had  sent  for  John  to  take  David's  place."  What 
a  cool  matter-of-fact  mode  of  summoning  a  moral 
martyr  to  leave  home,  kindred,  and  comfort,  and 
bury  himself  among  Indians  in  the  wilderness ! 
They  pay  here  a  noble  tribute  to  the  piety  and 
philanthropy  of  John  Brainerd.  They  say,  sub- 
stantially, that  he  only  needed  a  call  of  duty  to 
any  work,  however  obscure,  difficult,  and  perilous, 
and  he  would  say,  as  he  did  say,  "Here  am  I." 
May  I  be  permitted  to  suggest  here  that,  in  thus 
promptly  responding  to  the  call  of  duty,  young 
Brainerd  exhibited  the  true  spirit  of  a  gospel  min- 
ister? In  the  Roman  Church,  and  in  some  Pro- 
testant denominations,  young  men  are  sent  to  their 
fields  of  labor  by  authority.  One  element  of  the 
power  by  which  Loyola  almost  subdued  the  world 


88  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 

to  the  Papal  yoke  was  found  in  the  fact  that  he 
held  the  authority  by  which  he  could  "say  to  this 
man,  Go,  arid  he  goeth."  He  could  distribute 
genius,  talent,  learning,  physical  and  moral  energy, 
where  they  would  most  tell  for  the  glory  and  en- 
largement of  the  Church. 

The  Episcopal  Methodist  Church,  in  its  annual 
assignment  of  men  to  fields  of  labor,  has  had  the 

o 

benefit  of  the  same  authority,  and  used  it  with 
great  efficacy  for  noble  purposes. 

The  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  policy  has 
been  different.  It  has  limited  the  authority  and 
responsibility  of  the  Church  as  a  governing  body 
over  its  ministry,  and  implied  a  higher  confidence 
in  the  individual,  while  it  imposed  greater  per- 
sonal obligations  to  learn  and  follow  duty. 

In  our  religious  economy  we  have  honored  our 
ministers,  by  assuming  for  them  such  a  baptism 
of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  as  would  lead  them  to  all 
diligence  in  ascertaining  their  personal  duty,  and 
all  needful  self-denial  and  fidelity  in  performing  it. 
We  have  assumed  that  the  love  of  ease,  comfort, 
popularity,  wealth,  and  high  literary  and  social 
advantages,  has  no  controlling  place  in  the  pur- 
poses and  determinations  of  men  who  have  pro- 
fessedly consecrated  their  all  to  the  service  of 
God.  Hence  we  have  no  outward  directions  or 
constraint;  no  episcopal  authority  to  distribute  the 
talent,  learning,  and  piety  of  the  ministry  where 
it  will  be  most  effective.  Our  system  is  not  like 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  C; 

a  vast  machine  moved  by  some  central  spring  of 
mighty  energy  controlling  its  entire  action.  It 
finds  a  better  illustration  in  the  movements  of  the 
orbs  of  heaven,  where  each  planet  turns  on  its  own 
axis  and  wheels  in  its  own  orbit  by  an  inherent 
impulse  imparted  by  the  finger  of  God.  In  short, 
the  Church  assumes  that  her  youthful  sons,  fresh 
from  their  sacred  studies,  with  burnished  intel- 
lects, with  sanctified  hearts,  with  manly  courage, 
noble  fortitude,  and  holy  zeal,  will  not  selfishly 
and  coldly  stipulate  for  eminent  places,  positions, 
and  emoluments ;  will  not  hang  idly  around  cities 
and  seminaries,  waiting  for  eligible  churches;  will 
not,  in  ambitious  scholarship  and  social  exquisite- 
ness,  imagine  themselves  too  precious  to  be  thrown 
away  in  quiet  towns  among  plain  people. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  sons  of  the  Church 
have  often  lacked  those  high  endowments  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  which  would  have  fitted  them  to  se- 
lect their  appropriate  field  and  work.  Some  secu- 
lar motive,  some  vision  of  worldly  advantage,  some 
compromise  with  conscience,  has  with  links  of  iron 
held  them  back  from  rugged  fields,  but  fields  to 
which  they  were  adapted,  and  in  which  they  might 
have  reaped  glorious  harvests.  The  world  owes  a 
special  obligation  to  the  pioneer  husbandman  who 
makes  the  desert  blossom. 

The  harder  the  soil,  and  the  more  abundant  the 
weeds,  the  briers,  and  the  thorns,  the  more  need- 
ful the  spade,  the  plough,  and  the  strong  hand  of 


9?  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

the  laborer;  and  the  more  beautiful,  by  contrast, 
the  waving  grain  over  hill  and  valley. 

We  once  introduced  a  young  minister  to  a  mis- 
sionary congregation  in  the  suburbs  of  a  great 
city.  The  people  were  highly  pleased  with  him, 
and  invited  him  to  settle  among  them.  He  came 
to  consult  me  on  the  subject.  As  he  was  an  un- 
married man,  he  regarded  the  salary  as  adequate. 
He  had  no  fault  to  find  with  the  number,  the 
attendance,  the  attention  and  interest,  of  the  con- 
gregation. I  urged  him  to  give  an  affirmative 
answer.  He  hesitated.  "I  am  afraid,11  said  he, 
"it  is  not  the  place  for  me  to  develop  myself," — 
alluding  to  the  plainness  of  the  people.  I  replied : 
"It  is  an  excellent  place  to  develop  the  gospel  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  I  know  not  whether  it 
is  the  place  for  you  to  develop  yourself." 

He  left  the  field,  and  has  since  "developed  him- 
self" by  giving  up  the  ministry.  "He  that  exalt- 
eth  himself  shall  be  abased." 

The  little  congregation,  under  the  patient  labors 
of  purer  and  better  men,  has  also  "developed  itself" 
into  one  of  the  most  numerous,  intelligent,  and  af- 
fluent churches  in  the  land.  Are  there  not  other 
young  ministers  corroding  in  idleness,  rejecting 
difficult  fields,  and  waiting  for  a  place  to  "develop 
themselves"  ? 

Exactly  the  opposite  of  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  spirit  of  John  Brainerd.  He  knew  all  that  his 
dying  brother  had  suffered  in  his  hard  field,  but 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  91 

still  volunteered,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  martyr,  to 
take  that  brother's  place.  David's  whole  record  of 
their  interview,  at  this  period,  is  the  following : — 

"April  10. — Found  my  brother  John  there,  and  spent 
some  time  in  conversation  with  him.  April  u. — As- 
sisted in  examining  my  brother,  by  the  New  York  Pres- 
bytery, for  licensure.  April  14. — This  day  my  brother 
went  to  my  people." 

We  doubt  whether  an  interview  stirring  such 
thoughts,  involving  such  heart-yearnings,  ever  had 
a  record  more  brief.  Its  brevity  is  suggestive. 

To  these  brothers,  duty  was  every  thing;  them- 
selves, nothing.  They  met  as  soldiers  meet  on 
the  battle-field.  One  who  had  fought  in  the  front 
rank,  long,  bravely,  and  triumphantly,  had  fallen 
wounded,  and  was  returning  home  to  die.  The 
other,  still  fresh,  strong,  hopeful,  and  urged  by  a 
spirit  as  daring  and  a  fortitude  as  enduring,  stood 
ready  to  take  his  dying  brother's  sword  and  shield, 
to  fight  in  the  same  conflict,  or  fall,  as  God  should 
ordain.  Their  interview  may  remind  the  reader 
of  a  scene  at  the  battle  of  Marengo.  Desaix,  one 
of  Napoleon's  bravest  and  most  trusted  generals, 
had  been  mortally  wounded,  and  lay  dying  on  the 
plain.  Napoleon,  pressing  the  retreating  Austrians, 
paused  by  the  side  of  his  fellow-officer,  who  was 
expiring,  and  said  that  he  was  sorry  he  could  not 
stay  longer  to  weep  for  him.  "I  am  sorry,"  said 
Desaix,  "that  I  have  but  one  life  to  give  for  the 
glory  of  France.  ' 


92  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

The  servants  of  a  nobler  Master,  and  engaged 
with  a  spirit  as  heroic  in  a  better  cause,  the  bro- 
thers at  Newark  and  Elizabeth  town  held  a  similar 
interview.  The  one  must  leave  his  dying  brother 
for  the  field  of  duty;  the  other  was  regretting 
weakness,  pain,  and  approaching  death,  only  as 
they  cut  short  his  pious  labors. 

The  letter  subsequently  addressed  by  David  to 
John  may  well  be  taken  as  an  index  of  the  "con- 
versation" between  the  brothers.  John,  now  but 
twenty-seven  years  old,  without  experience  as  a 
minister  or  missionary,  unaccustomed  to  Indian 
life  and  forest-fare,  ignorant  of  the  language  of 
the  people  and  a  stranger  to  the  localities  of  their 
neighborhood,  had  a  thousand  queries  to  propose 
and  a  thousand  perplexities  to  be  solved.  No 
man  ever  had  a  better  apology  for  self-distrust 
and  shrinking  at  the  outset  of  a  great  enterprise. 
On  the  other  hand,  David  would  have  a  thousand 
things  to  tell  concerning  his  Indians,  and,  with  his 
high  standard  of  life  and  labors,  a  thousand  solemn 
charges  to  impose.  We  can  all  readily  picture  the 
interest  of  this  brief  interview. 

As  we  know  the  keen,  almost  morbid,  sensibil- 
ity of  these  young  men,  their  matter-of-fact  ar- 
rangements for  duty  show  how  they  had  subor- 
dinated every  human  sympathy  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ.  We  now  leave  the  elder  brother  to 
pursue  his  last  journey  to  New  England,  while  we 
accompany  John  to  the  field  of  his  future  labors. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  93 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JOHN  BRAINERD'S  ENTRANCE  ON  THE  FIELD  AS  A  MISSIONARY. 

T  ICENSED  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  then  in  session  at 
Elizabethtown,  endorsed  as  a  proper  substitute  for 
his  brother  by  the  Edinburgh  Correspondents,  who 
allowed  forty  pounds  annually  to  the  mission,*  John 
Brainerd  is  now  ready  for  his  work.  Grieved  at 
parting  with  his  beloved,  sick  brother;  burdened  by 
the  untried  responsibilities  before  him,  yet  cheered 
by  the  benedictions  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickin- 
son, Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  and  other  good  men  of  the 
day;  buoyed  up  by  youthful  hope,  enthusiasm,  and 
the  consciousness  of  pure  and  lofty  aims ;  trusting 
in  the  God  of  his  fathers,  he  sets  his  face  toward 
his  wild  forest  home. 

We  can  see  him.  He  is  mounted  on  horseback. 
His  little  wardrobe,  his  few  books,  and  his  ap- 
pliances for  wigwam  life,  are  stowed  in  his  stuffed 
portmanteau.  The  scenery  around  him  in  its  soft- 
ness contrasts  strongly  with  his  own  rugged  New 
England.  He  left  behind  leafless  forests,  bleak 


*  David  Brainerd's  salary  was  two  hundred  dollars  a  year ;   oblig- 
ing him  to  draw  on  his  own  funds  for  support. 

9 


94  LIFE    OF    'JOHN  BR Al NERD. 

fields,  and  wintry  winds.  But  now  he  has  borne 
himself  "nearer  to  the  sun."  His  cheek  is  farmed 
by  gales  from  the  south ;  the  forests  are  beginning 

J     o 

to  enrobe  themselves  in  summer  beauty;  wild 
flowers  are  springing  up  around  his  path;  birds 
are  singing  in  the  branches.  Every  advance  is 
marked  by  some  novelty.  The  rising  villages  of 
Rahway,  Brunswick,  and  Princeton,  if  he  took 
these  in  his  route,  the  splendid  scenery  of  the 
Raritan,  his  first  vision  of  the  noble  Delaware,  all 
these  were  adapted  to  impress  by  some  novelty  or 
charm  by  some  beauty  the  heart  of  a  reflecting 
and  highly-educated  young  man.  Still,  amid  all 
these  attractions,  there  would  be  likely  to  come 
over  him,  like  the  chill  of  his  own  winters,  the 
thought  that  he  was  a  stranger,  in  a  strange  land, 
on  a  strange  errand.  He  would  reflect  that  for 
him  no  mother,  sister,  or  friend  had  prepared  the 
well-arranged  apartment,  had  smoothed  his  pillow, 
provided  his  repast,  and  was  waiting  with  arms 
of  love  to  welcome  him.  He  had  left  such  far 
behind  him;  but  before  him  was  no  such  home. 
He  would  be  solitary ;  his  labors  would  be  in  ob- 
scurity, and  often  unappreciated.  He  was  to  dwell 
among  a  people  of  a  strange  language, — thus,  for 
a  time,  at  least,  as  to  social  life,  be  practically 
both  deaf  and  dumb.  He  might  pine  for  society, 
and  for  his  New-England  enjoyments ;  but  he  would 
be  chained  to  his  post.  He  might  long  for  a  word 
of  sympathy  and  cheer  in  vain.  Ho  might  be  sick, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  95 

with  no  science  or  affection  to  supply  skill,  sym- 
pathy, tenderness,  or  support.  He  might  die  alone 
in  the  wilderness,  with  no  kind  friend  near  to  wipe 
the  death-damp  from  his  brow,  to  treasure  his  last 
words  of  love  to  kindred  or  of  faith  in  God.  He 
might  sleep  in  a  forest-grave, 

"Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung," 

in  a  grave  sheltered  by  no  sod,  marked  by  no 
stone,  visited  by  no  human  feet,  wet  by  no  human 
tears. 

Thoughts  like  these  would  not  be  unnatural  in 
a  young  man  travelling  on  horseback  and  alone  in 
the  sands,  under  the  sombre  shades  of  the  deep 
pine-forests  of  New  Jersey,  to  find  a  home  among 
savage  tribes.  All  that  we  have  sketched,  save 
death  itself,  had  been  endured  by  his  martyr-bro- 
ther; and  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  hung 
cloudily  over  his  adventurous  successor. 

But  I  apprehend  that,  in  his.  first  journey  as  a 
missionary  to  his  field  (he  made  David  a  social 
visit  at  Cranberry,  May  23,  one  year  before*), 
John  Brainerd  had  a  still  deeper  source  of  anx- 
iety. He  was  untried,  and  might  fail  in  the  work. 
David  had  more  genius,  greater  learning,  rich  ex- 
perience, eminent  holiness,  powerful  friends,  like 
Edwards  and  others.  His  success  had  been  won- 
derful, almost  miraculous,  and  his  renown  had 

*  Edwards'  Life  of  Brainerd,  p.  301. 


96  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

already  reached  two  hemispheres.  John  might 
well  ask:  "Am  I  fitted  to  take  the  place  of  such 
a  man,  and  sustain  a  burden  which  has  crushed 
my  brother  to  the  brink  of  the  grave?"  We  can 
almost  hear  him  crying  out  on  his  way:  "  Who  is 
sufficient  for  these  things?"  A  distrust  of  his  own 
spiritual  fitness  for  his  work  was,  probably,  the 
heaviest  weight  which  pressed  on  the  heart  of  the 
untried  missionary.  His  other  troubles,  however 
severe,  concerned  himself  and  earth  only :  his  moral 
deficiencies  might  hinder  the  glory  of  Christ  in  the 
salvation  of  souls.  The  former  he  had  fortitude  to 
dare  and  endure;  the  latter  he  lamented  in  dust 
and  ashes.  This  is  the  proper  spirit  of  a  soldier 
of  the  Cross. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  97 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

JOHN  BRAINERD'S  INTRODUCTION  TO  HIS  MISSIONARY  FIELD  AT 
CRANBERRY,  N.  J. 

TI7E  are  not  allowed  to  describe  the  emotions  of 
the  young  missionary  as  he  reaches  Cran- 
berry, N.  J.,  and  takes  up  his  solitary  abode  in  the 
rude  cabin  which  had  been  erected  by  the  labor 
of  his  brother  David.  David  had  before  this  built, 
with  his  own  hands,  four  houses  "to  dwell  in,  by 
himself,  among  the  Indians," — one  in  Kaunas 
meek,  in  the  county  of  Albany,  N.  Y. ;  one  at  the 
Forks  of  the  Delaware,  Pa.;  one  at  Crossweek- 
sung,  N.  J. ;  and,  finally,  one  at  Cranberry,  where 
John  was  now  to  be  settled.  These  forest  cabins, 
in  more  senses  than  one,  were  like  the  "three 
tabernacles"  which  Peter  and  John  desired  leave 
to  erect  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  to  be 
filled  with  heavenly  occupants.  Jesus  had  dwelt 
in  them  all.  David  Bramerd,  in  his  journal  of 
September  27,  1746,  says:- 

"  I  was  able  to  ride  over  to  my  people  two  miles  every 
day,  and  take  some  care  of  those  who  were  then  at  work 
erecting  a  small  house  for  me  to  reside  in  among  the  In- 
dians." 

His  is  anticipation  was  hardly  realized.     He  was 

9* 


98  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

soon  summoned  to  a  mansion  in  heaven,  leaving 
his  "small  house"  in  the  wilderness  to  be  occupied 
by  his  beloved  and  equally  devoted  brother. 

John  Brainerd  found  a  most  enthusiastic  and 
joyful  welcome  from  the  pious  Indian  congrega- 
tion. As  a  minister  of  Jesus,  and  a  brother  of 
their  beloved  sick  pastor,  he  was  received  with 
open  arms.  To  him,  fresh  from  college  halls,  and 
from  the  most  intelligent  society  of  the  long-set- 
tled and  best-cultivated  district  in  New  England, 
every  thing  would  seem  strangely  wild  in  the 
place  and  people. 

Though  the  village  of  Cranberry,  near  the  scene 
of  his  labors,  had  been  long  settled  by  whites,  yet 
his  Indian  neighborhood  in  the  township  was  al- 
most a  wilderness.  His  brother  David,  desirous 
of  collecting  the  scattered  Indians  into  some  lo- 
cality where  they  would  meet  fewer  temptations 
than  at  Crossweeksung,  from  contact  with  bad 
white  men,  arid  where  they  could  have  good 
farms,  a  school,  and  a  church,  had  encouraged 
them  to  enter  upon  some  wild  lands  which  they 
claimed  as  their  own  in  Cranberry  township.  The 
Indians,  confiding  in  the  judgment  of  their  beloved 
and  revered  pastor,  cordially  entered  into  this  plan. 
Leaving  their  homes  at  Crossweeksung,  the  men 
cheerfully  shouldered  their  axes,  and,  led  by  their 
pastor,  sought  out  their  new  field,  and  began  to 
level  the  forest-trees,  roll  and  burn  the  logs,  clear 
the  lands,  and  fence  the  fields.  In  the  course  of  a 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  99 

year  from  that  time,  John  Brainerd  arrived  among 
them:  they  had,  with  an  industry  and  persever- 
ance wonderful  for  aborigines,  cleared  eighty  acres, 
built  their  own  cabins,  erected  a  "small  house"  for 
their  pastor,  and  a  school-house,  which  served  them 
for  a  sanctuary  on  the  Sabbath.  This  clearing, 
embracing  an  area  half  a  mile  in  length,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  breadth,  scalloped  out  of  the  pine 
forest,  was  the  site  of  their  village  of  scattered 
cabins.  To  give  them  encouragement  in  their  la- 
bors, their  emaciated  and  worn-out  missionary  had 
often  shared  in  their  toils,  swinging  the  axe  with 
his  own  hands.  In  relating  the  causes  and  the 
history  of  their  removal  from  Crossweeksung  to 
Cranberry,  David  Brainerd  says:  — 


21,  1745.  —  Spent  the  forenoon  in  conversa- 
tion with  Mr.  Dickinson  (at  Elizabethtown),  contriving 
something  for  the  settlement  of  the  Indians  together  in 
a  body,  that  they  might  be  in  better  advantages  for  in- 
struction. October  29.  —  Rode  and  viewed  the  Indian 
lands  at  Cranberry.  Still  at  Crossweeksung." 

March  24,  1746,  David  Brainerd  says:  — 

"Numbered  the  Indians,  to  see  how  many  souls  God 
had  gathered  together  here  since  my  coming  into  these 
parts,  and  find  them  about  one  hundred  and  twenty,  old 
and  young,  and  about  fifteen  absent. 

"My  people  were  out  this  day  with  the  design  of 
clearing  some  of  their  land,  about  fifteen  miles  from  this 
settlement,  in  order  to  their  settling  there  in  a  compact 
form,  where  they  might  be  under  the  advantages  of  at- 


ioo  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

tending  the  public  worship  of  God,  of  having  their  chil- 
dren taught  in  a  school,  and  at  the  same  time  have  a 
conveniency  for  planting ;  their  land  in  the  place  of  our 
present  residence  being  of  little  or  no  value  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  design  of  their  settling  thus  in  a  body,  and 
cultivating  their  lands,  of  which  they  have  done  very 
little  in  their  pagan  state,  being  of  such  necessity  and 
importance  to  their  religious  interest  as  well  as  worldly 
comfort,  I  thought  it  proper  to  call  them  together  and 
show  them  the  duty  of  laboring  with  faithfulness  and  in- 
dustry, and  that  they  must  not  now  be  'slothful  in  busi- 
ness,' as  they  had  ever  been  in  their  pagan  state.  I  en- 
deavored to  press  the  importance  of  their  being  laborious, 
diligent,  and  vigorous  in  the  prosecution  of  their  busi- 
ness, especially  at  the  present  juncture,  the  season  of 
planting  being  now  near,  in  order  to  their  being  in  a 
capacity  of  living  together,  and  enjoying  the  means  of 
grace  and  instruction.  Having  given  them  directions  for 
their  work,  which  they  very  much  wanted,  as  well  as  for 
their  behavior  in  divers  respects,  I  explained,  sang,  and 
endeavored  to  inculcate  upon  them  the  cxxviith  Psalm, 
common  metre,  Dr.  Watts'  version ;  and  having  recom- 
mended them  and  the  design  of  their  going  forth  to  God 
by  prayer  with  them,  I  dismissed  them  to  their  business. 

"After  the  Indians  had  gone  to  their  work,  to  clear 
their  lands,  I  retired  by  myself  and  poured  out  my  soul 
to  God,  that  he  would  smile  on  their  feeble  beginning's, 
and  that  he  would  settle  an  Indian  town  which  might  be 
a  'mountain  of  holiness.' 

"March  31. — Called  my  people  together,  as  I  had 
done  the  Monday  evening  before,  and  discoursed  to 
them  again  on  the  necessity  and  importance  of  laboring 
industriously  in  order  to  their  living  together  and  enjoy- 
ing the  means  of  grace,  &c.  Having  engaged  in  a 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  101 

solemn  prayer  to  God  among  them  for  a  blessing  upon 
their  attempts,  I  dismissed  them  to  their  work.  Num- 
bers of  them,  both  men  and  women,  seemed  to  offer 
themselves  willingly  to  this  service ;  and  some  appeared 
affectionately  concerned  that  God  might  go  with  them, 
and  begin  their  little  town  for  them ;  that,  by  his  bless- 
ing, it  might  be  a  place  comfortable  for  them  and  theirs, 
with  regard  both  to  procuring  the  necessaries  of  life  and 
to  attending  on  the  worship  of  God. 

"Towards  night  I  enjoyed  some  sweet  meditations  on 
these  words : — clt  is  good  for  me  to  draw  near  to  God.' 
My  soul,  I  think,  had  some  sweet  sense  of  what  is  in- 
tended in  these  words. 

"  Cranberry,  May  26. — Rode  home  to  my  people  at 
Cranberry,  whither  they  now  removed,  and  where  I  hope 
God  will  settle  them  as  a  Christian  congregation." 

In  order  to  render  safe  their  new  possession,  he 
had  already  by  order  of  the  Correspondents  paid 
the  debts  of  the  Indians,  amounting  to  eighty-two 
pounds  jive  shillings,  to  secure  their  lands,  and 
that  there  might  be  no  entanglement  lying  upon 
them.  "It  is  hoped,"  he  says,  "God  designs  to 
establish  a  church  for  himself  among  them,  and 
hand  down  true  religion  to  their  posterity."* 

I  have  sketched  the  history  of  this  migration 
of  the  Indians  from  Crossweeksung  to  Cranberry, 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  hope  of  a  good  man  was 
thwarted  by  land-graspers  and  rum-sellers.  Even  this  movement  to 
Cranberry  "raised  a  terrible  clamor."  Numbers  gave  out  hard  words 
to  terrify  or  threaten  the  Indians,  pretending  a  claim  on  their  lands. 
We  shall  see  in  the  sequel  that  the  malice  and  cupidity  of  ungodly 
men  at  last  expelled  these  poor  Indians  from  Cranberry. 


102  LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRAINERD. 

fifteen  miles,  that  the  reader  may  the  better  sym- 
pathize with  John  Brainerd  in  entering  on  his  mis- 
sionary field. 

We  must  here  bear  in  mind  that  not  two  years 
have  yet  elapsed  since  David  Brainerd  found  all 
these  Indians  wild,  roaming,  reckless,  stupid  sav- 
ages. They  have  now,  many  of  ll.em,  been  trans- 
formed by  God's  truth  and  Spirit  into  humble,  do- 
cile, and  earnest  Christian  men  and  women.  In 
the  brief  period  of  their  Christian  life  they  have 
had  the  most  intelligent,  patient,  and  faithful  in- 
struction. Their  progress  in  Christian  knowledge 
and  grace  has  been  wonderful,  so  that  their  holy 
and  consistent  lives,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Knight,  of  Cranberry,  and  his  elders,  "put  to 
shame  their  white  brethren  in  other  churches.'' 
They  have  a  simple  and  confiding  faith,  which  is 
adapted  to  invite  instruction  and  gladden  the  heart 
of  their  minister.  They  are  prepared  to  look  upon 
their  young  pastor  with  profound  reverence  as  a 
man  of  God,  and  with  deep  affection  as  the  bro- 
ther of  their  spiritual  father. 

All  this  is  delightful ;  but  there  is'  a  shade  in 
the  picture.  They  have  just  emerged  from  sav- 
age life,  without  education  or  books,  without  any 
knowledge  of  science  or  the  arts,  without  any  skill 
in  trade  or  agriculture,  without  any  civilized  ideas 
of  taste  or  refinement,  without  any  home-comforts 
of  beds,  chairs,  tables,  and  separate  apartments  in 
their  dwellings,  without  fixed  habits  of  industry, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  103 

definite  aims,  or  any  beau-ideal  to  stimulate  their 
energy  and  elevate  their  social  and  pecuniary  posi- 
tion. They  are  barbarians  still. 

They  doze  in  their  unpaved,  unglazed,  dark, 
smoky  cabins;  or  they  creep  out  unwashed,  un- 
combed, and  half  dressed,  to  lie  on  the  ground  and 
bask  in  the  sun.  They  tear  their  half-cooked  meat 
with  their  fingers,  and  masticate  it  with  almost  the 
avidity  of  beasts  of  prey.  Every  hour  of  the  day, 
in  every  circle,  service,  and  occupation,  by  some 
rudeness,  stupidity,  or  indecency,  they  violate  the 
taste  and  shock  the  sensibilities  of  their  young  mis- 
sionary ;  and  what  adds  to  his  chagrin  is  the  fact, 
that  to  him  their  chatter  is  an  unintelligible  jar- 
gon, and  he  a  barbarian  to  them.  Entirely  alone 
as  a- missionary,  with  no  wife  or  Christian  family 
for  companionship,  we  are  not  to  be  surprised  if 
the  gloom  of  which  David  so  often  complained 
throws  its  dark  wing  over  John  Brainerd  in  his 
Indian  cabin.  And  in  his  efforts  to  preach  the 
gospel  he  had  many  embarrassments  and  annoy- 
ances. Not  only  was  he  ignorant  of  the  Indian 
language,  but  of  their  mental  constitution,  early 
associations,  modes  of  thought.  He  was  ignorant 
of  their  prejudices  and  antipathies.  As  his  bro- 
ther's journal  had  been  but  recently  published, 
John  Brainerd  could  have  had  only  slight  know- 
ledge of  the  mode  in  which  his  Indians  had  been 
taught,  or  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  their  reli- 
gious attainments ;  and  his  church-edifice  was  but 


104  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

a  miserable  hut,  devoid  of  all  cheerfulness,  taste, 
and  convenience.     His  brother  David  says : — 

"I  have  often  been  obliged  to  preach  in  their  houses 
in  cold  and  windy  weather,  when  they  have  been  full  of 
smoke  and  cinders,  as  well  as  unspeakably  filthy,  which 
has  thrown  me  many  times  into  violent  sick  headaches." 

He  says,  moreover: — 

"While  I  have  been  preaching,  their  children  have 
cried  to  such  a  degree,  I  could  scarcely  be  heard;  and 
their  pagan  mothers  would  take  no  manner  of  care  to 
quiet  them.  At  the  same  time,  perhaps,  some  men  have 
been  laughing  and  mocking  at  divine  truths,  others  play- 
ing with  their  dogs,  whittling  sticks;  and  this  not  from 
spite  and  prejudice,  but  for  want  of  better  manners." 

Rather  a  forbidding  prospect,  this,  for  the  young 
graduate  of  Yale,  just  entering  on  the  ministry! 
Theological  dandies,  ambitious  of  style  and  good 
.society,  would  hardly  have  accepted  this  "call" 
to  the  red  men  of  Cranberry.  There  is  no  good 
library  there;  there  is  no  appreciation  of  intellec- 
tual taste.  The  young  missionary  has  no  prospect 
of  the  smiles  of  beauty,  or  invitations  to  elegant 
soirees.  If  he  be  not  sustained  by  his  own  good 
conscience,  the  joy  of  benevolence,  and  the  grace 
and  favor  of  God,  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  him ! 

He  was,  doubtless,  thus  sustained.  He  remem- 
bered the  dying  commands  of  his  Saviour: — "Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature."  Bmincrd  had  come  to  the  Cran- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  105 

berry  Indians  to  do  the  very  work  intrusted  to 
him  by  his  Divine  Master;  and  if  great  trials  and 
bereavements  were  before  him,  he  would  bear  him- 
self bravely  in  the  thought  that  "The  servant  is 
not  above  his  Lord." 

Parting  with  a  dying  brother  to  find  a  home  and 
field  of  labor  among  savages  in  the  forest  was  but 
a  fitting  preparation  for,  and  apprenticeship  to,  that 
moral  martyrdom  which,  we  shall  show,  character- 
ized his  whole  life.  "  Mirthfulness"  may  be  a  very 
pleasant  and  profitable  subject  for  eulogy  by  well- 
paid  and  well-fed  literary  lecturers  in  classic  halls, 
or  in  great  cities  radiant  with  wealth,  beauty,  and 
fashion;  but  this  "mirth fulness"  has  not  been  the 
ordinary  characteristic  of  the  ministers  of  Jesus, 
who,  by  lives  of  obscurity  and  self-denial,  have 
"filled  up  the  measure  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ 
for  the  world's  salvation."  "No  cross,  no  crown," 
has  ever  been  their  motto. 

But  perhaps  we  have  done  John  Brainerd  injus- 
tice in  supposing  that  the  shade  of  the  wilderness 
threw  any  sadness  over  his  spirit.  He  has  left  no 
record  of  gloom.  His  wild  forest-home  and  wild 
companions  may  have  occasioned  a  pleasant  excite- 
ment, aided  as  they  were  by  manly  courage  and 
elevated  Christian  purposes.  He  doubtless  could 
say: — 

"Sure,  'tis  a  glorious  path, 

To  tread  where  martyrs  trod; 
To  disenthral  mortality, 
And  give  a  world  to  God." 

10 


io6  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

JOHN  BRAINERD'S  FIRST  YEAR  AMONG  THE  INDIANS — THEIR  NUMBER 
— CRANBERRY — BETHEL — THE  REVIVAL — LETTER  TO  REV.  MR.  PEM- 

BERTON. 

must  now  look  at  young  Brainerd  as  do- 
mesticated for  life  in  New  Jersey;  for  lie 
never,  except  for  brief  visits,  returned  to  his  own 
New  England.  As  already  stated,  the  number 
of  Indians  who  from  regard  to  the  gospel  had  ral- 
lied around  Cranberry,  had  increased  from  fifteen 
or  twenty,  first  found  at  Cross weeksung,  to  over 
one  hundred  and  twenty ;  seventy-eight  of  whom 
had  been  baptized.  The  church  embraced  nearly 
forty.  There  were  also  about  fifty  on  the  Ran- 
cocas,  near  Mount  Holly,  and  a  few  scattered 
families  elsewhere  in  East  Jersey.  Besides  these, 
Brainerd  was  expected  to  follow  up,  as  he  had 
time  and  opportunity,  the  labors  of  his  brother  in 
the  Forks  of  the  Delaware  and  the  Valley  of  the 
Susquehanna. 

The  location  of  this  Indian  settlement  near  Cran- 
berry has  been  ascertained  with  sufficient  definite- 
ness  by  the  researches  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Symrnes, 
of  Cranberry  Church,  who,  with  the  writer,  care- 
fully explored  the  region  not  long  since.  For  par- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  107 

ticulars,  we  refer  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Symmes.* 
The  cut  exhibits  the  old  parsonage  in  which  the 
Brainerds  were  often1  entertained  over  one  hundred 
years  ago. 

Bethel  was  the  name  which  they  gave  to  their 
new  erection  of  cabins.  This  place  Bethel,  from 
which  John  Brainerd  dated  his  correspondence,  is 
often  spoken  of  by  President  Edwards  as  the  "In- 
dian town  in  New  Jersey."  As  Bethel,  in  Hebrew, 
signifies  the  house  of  God,  their  piety  suggested 
the  name  given  to  the  new  settlement. 

John  Brainerd  began  his  labors,  April  15,  1747. 
He  says: — f 

"It  pleased  the  Lord  greatly  to  smile  on  my  brother's 
[David]  endeavors,  and  in  the  most  remarkable  manner 
to  open  the  eyes  of  the  poor  savages,  and  to  turn  them 
from  Satan  to  God.  The  Indians  had  settled  themselves 
on  a  tract  of  land  near  Cranberry,  far  better  [than  Cross- 
weeksung]  for  cultivation  and  more  commodious  for  such 
a  number  as  were  now  gathered  together.  In  this  situa- 
tion I  found  the  Indians  when  I  arrived  among  them  at 
their  new  settlement,  called  Bethel,  about  the  middle  of 
April,  1747.  And  this  summer  officiated  for  my  brother, 
who  took  a  journey  to  the  eastward,  thinking  it  might 
possibly  be  a  means  of  recovering  his  health.  But  his 
disease  [consumption]  had  taken  such  hold  of  his  vitals 
as  not  to  be  diverted  or  removed  by  medicine  or  means. 
He  was,  on  his  return  from  Boston  to  New  Jersey,  de- 
tained at  Northampton  by  the  increase  of  his  disorder, 

*  See  Appendix  A. 

•j-  See  letter  in  Sprague's  Annals,  vol.  iii.  p.  150. 


io8  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  there  made  his  exit  out  of  a  world  of  sin  and  sorrow, 
and,  no  doubt,  entered  upon  a  glorious  and  blessed  im- 
mortality, in  October,  1747."  • 

He  continues: — 

"The  work  of  Divine  Grace  still  went  on  among  the 
Indians,  although  those  extraordinary  influences  that  ap- 
peared for  a  time  had  begun  some  months  before  to  abate, 
and  still  seemed  gradually  going  off;  but  the  good  effects 
of  them  were  abiding  in  numbers  of  instances." 

We  are  to  look  at  this  statement  more  in  grief 
than  surprise,  that  the  "extraordinary  influences" 
had  begun  to  abate.  According  to  the  journal  of 
David  Brainerd,  the  "extraordinary"  revival  in- 
fluence first  manifested  itself  at  Crossweeksung, 
in  August,  1745,  nearly  two  years  before.  That 
among  these  poor,  insulated,  ignorant  Indians  the 
work  should  have  been  so  continued,  that  in  April, 
1747,  John  Brainerd  found  it  only  "gradually 
going  off,"  is  evidence  of  its  original  purity  and 
power.  All  revivals  of  religion  marked  by  great 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  attended,  necessa- 
rily, with  great  excitement,  have  usually  been,  rela- 
tively, of  brief  continuance.  We  may  regard  this 
as  almost  a  necessity,  for  it  admits  of  a  plain  ex- 
planation. Where  there  is  great  energy  of  means, 
and  a  powerful  influence  of  the  Spirit,  by  which 
many  are  deeply  moved  and  hopefully  converted, 
one  of  two  effects  will  be  produced  on  the  impeni- 
tent. They  will  either  bow  to  the  influence  of  the 


LIFE    OF    JGHN   BRAINERD.  109 

truth  and  Spirit,  and  be  reckoned  among  the  con- 
verts; or  they  will,  by  resisting  truth,  conscience, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  attain  a  moral  hardihood 
which  enables  them  to  neutralize  all  efforts  for 
their  renovation.  There  may  be,  as  there  was  in 
the  case  before  us,  a  lingering  of  the  good  influ- 
ence for  a  long  time.  New  individuals  may  be 
brought  under  the  influence  of  the  revival  from 
without;  and  time  may  change  the  moral  attitude 
of  some  within,  who  at  first  resisted  these  influ- 
ences. It  is  of  the  very  nature  of  a  powerful 
work  of  grace  soon  to  exhaust  the  subjects  on 
which  it  acts,  and  to  cease  as  a  result  of  its  tri- 
umphs. We  must  not  expect  to  load  ourselves 
with  abundant  sheaves  repetitiously  on  the  field 
from  which  we  have  already  gathered  the  rich 
harvest:  the  gleaning  is  all  that  is  left  us.  These 
remarks,  of  course,  must  be  restricted  to  localities 
and  communities  under  the  same  influences;  for 
outside,  in  the  wide  world,  there  will  always  be 
ample  scope  and  subjects  for  the  most  powerful, 
wide-spread,  and  permanent  revivals,  until  the 
last  great  harvest  of  souls  is  gathered  in. 

Are  not  thoughts  like  these  adapted  to  give 
useful  hints  to  some  zealous  and  true-hearted,  but 
not  very  discreet,  pastors,  who  press  revival  means, 
exhortations,  and  reproofs  after  the  revival  power 
has  waned,  and  thus  disgust  and  alienate  those 
who  have  placed  themselves,  for  the  time  being, 
in  resistance  to  such  influences;  but  who,  allowed 


10* 


no  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

to  unbend,  and  led  by  various  evangelical  teach- 
ings to  new  angles  of  vision  and  new  subjects  of 
religious  reflection,  would  be  kept  within  the  hear- 
ing of  truth  and  become  hopeful  subjects  of  the 
next  revival?  Are  not  those  pastors  wise  men 
who,  instead  of  expecting  always  to  reap,  improve 
the  time  of  sowing  and  watering,  and  thus  in  the 
"waning,"  from  whatever  cause,  of  one  revival, 
"give  diligence"  to  educate  their  people  in  sound 
Christian  doctrine,  in  preparation  and  certain  ex- 
pectation of  another? 

While  on  this  subject,  which  some  may  regard 
as  excursive  from  our  memoir,  we  may  be  allowed 
to  say  that  there  were  peculiar  reasons  for  the  sub- 
sidence of  the  great  work  at  Crossweeksung  and 
Cranberry,  among  the  Indians.  Not  only  were  they 
few  in  numbers,  weak  in  understanding,  fickle  in 
habits,  and  strongly  tempted  by  pagans  of  their  own 
race  and  corrupt  whites  in  the  neighborhood,  but 
the  very  characteristics  of  the  Great  Revival  were 
not  of  a  kind  to  promise  permanence.  Although 
the  power  of  a  great  revival  of  religion  is  of  God's 
sovereignty  and  rich  grace,  yet,  as  this  power  ope- 
rates by  human  instruments  and  agents,  its  mani- 
festations will  put  on  a  certain  type  under  the  im- 
pression received  from  these  instruments  or  agents. 
As  David  Brainerd  was  a  laborer  and  almost  a 
martyr  in  the  Great  Awakening  of  1740-41,  so 
graphically  described  by  Edwards;  as  he  looked 
up  to  Edwards,  Whitefield,  Gilbert  and  William 


LIFE    OF    jOHN   BRAINERD.  in 

Tennent;  Aaron  Burr,  and  Jonathan  Dickinson 
with  the  most  profound  reverence;  as  William 
Tennent,  of  Freehold,  was  his  near  neighbor;  as 
his  Indians,  some  of  them  at  least,  must  have  had 
some  observation  of  revival-scenes  in  the  Chris- 
tian congregations  of  New  Jersey ;  and,  above  all, 
as  God  in  this  great  and  glorious  work  had  been 
pleased,  in  this  region,  to  signalize  the  presence 
of  his  Spirit  by  certain  remarkable  and  uniform 
effects,  we  may  not  wonder  that  the  revival  at 
Crossweeksung  among  savages  and  pagans  imi- 
tates in  its  characteristics  and  developments,  while 
it  excels  in  energy  and  excitement,  the  revivals  in 
Freehold,  N.  J.,  Bethlehem,  Conn.,  and  Northamp- 
ton, Mass. 

In  all  these  places  there  was,  for  the  time  being, 
the  same  solemn  sense  of  God's  awful  presence,  the 
same  realization  of  a  long  eternity,  the  same  re- 
gard to  the  worth  of  the  soul,  the  same  rushing  to- 
gether from  widely-separated  places  as  to  a  great 
sight,  the  same  tendency  to  abide  day  and  night 
under  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  in  prayer. 
The  preaching  was  attended  by  crowds,  all  dis- 
solved in  tears,  uttering  bitter  and  distressing  cries, 
horrified  by  the  consciousness  of  guilt  and  peril,  or 
beseeching  God  for  clear  and  joyful  evidence  of  a 
new  heart  wrought  by  the  Spirit.  In  this  "awa- 
kening," preachers,  in  the  most  intense  enthusiasm 
of  gospel  benevolence,  everywhere  ran  to  and  fro, 
yearning  for  souls ;  preaching  in  season  and  out  of 


ii2  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

season,  and  giving  no  stint  to  their  prayers;  acting 
like  men  who  believed  that  the  great  day  of  God's 
mercy  had  dawned,  and  that  they  were  the  ap- 
pointed leaders  in  the  work  of  salvation.  None 
will  wonder  that  in  some  cases  this  heaven-inspired 
enthusiasm  was  carried  into  rank  and  baneful  fana- 
ticism, so  that  they  saw  unearthly  visions  and  had 
miraculous  dreams. 

While  Brainerd  carefully  protected  his  people 
from  fanaticism,  he  nevertheless  tolerated  that 
high  religious  excitement  and  those  natural  de- 
monstrations of  deep  feeling  which  have  usually 
attended  great  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  of  God.* 

*  "  Few  Christians  appear  to  have  enjoyed  such  abounding,  even 
overwhelming,  manifestations  of  the  Divine  Presence  and  favor  as 
fell  to  the  share  of  the  heavenly-hearted  Brainerd.  In  youth  he 
would  pass  whole  days  in  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  forest,  in  a  state 
of  ecstasy,  in  which  he  was  insensible  to  the  flight  of  time,  to  hun- 
ger, and  every  impression  of  an  outward  kind;  and  during  the  whole 
course  of  his  ardent,  evangelic  life  there  were  seasons  not  uni'requent 
in  which,  through  the  abundance  of  the  revelations,  he  might  have 
said,  with  the  apostle,  that  whether  they  were  passed  in  the  body  or 
out  of  the  body  was  known,  not  to  him,  but  to  God.  Yet  it  is  re- 
corded that  '  there  was  no  sight  of  heaven  in  his  imagination,  with 
gates  of  pearl  and  golden  streets,  and  a  vast  multitude  with  shining 
garments;  no  vision  of  the  book  of  life  opened  with  his  name  writ- 
ten in  it;  no  sudden  suggestions  of  words  or  promise  of  Scripture,  as 
then  immediately  spoken  or  sent  to  him  -,  no  new  revelations,  or 
strong  suggestions  of  secret  facts.'  But  the  way  he  was  satisfied  of 
his  own  good  estate  was  by  feeling  within  himself  the  lively  actings 
of  a  holy  temper  and  heavenly  disposition,  the  vigorous  exercise  of 
that  Divine  Love  which  'casts  out  fear.'  Also  on  the  subject  of  his 
missionary  labors  he  says :  '  I  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  glories  of 
this  work  of  grace  among  the  Indians,  and  a  special  evidence  of  its 
being  Irom  a  divine  influence,  that  there  have  been  till  now  no  vision- 
ary notions,  trances,  and  imaginations  intermixed  with  those  rational 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  113 

The  bodily  exercises  which  marked  the  Great 
Revival  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Tennessee  in  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  so  graphically  described  by  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Baxter,  of  Virginia,  the  faintings  and  prostra- 
tions attending  the  great  Irish  Revival  of  1858- 
59,  were  transcripts  of  the  popular  enthusiasm 
and  impression  in  the  Revival  of  1742;  so  well 
described,  and  alternately  lauded  and  condemned, 
by  Jonathan  Edwards. 

This  last  revival,  into  the  spirit  of  which  David 
Brainerd  had  so  deeply  drank,  was  produced  in 
all  its  main  characteristics  under  his  own  labors  at 
Crossweeksung  and  Cranberry. 

Thus,  under  date  of  August  8,  1745,  at  Cross- 
weeksung, he  says: — 

"The  power  of  God  seemed  to  descend  upon  the 
Indians  especially,  ^  like  a  mighty  rushing  wind,'  and  with 
an  astonishing  energy  bore  down  all  before  it.  I  stood 
amazed  at  the  influence  which  seized  the  audience  almost 
universally,  and  could  compare  it  to  nothing  more  aptly 
than  the  irresistible  force  of  a  mighty  torrent  or  swelling 
deluge,  that  with  its  insupportable  weight  and  pressure 
bears  down  and  sweeps  before  it  whatever  comes  in  its 
way.  Almost  all  persons  of  all  ages  were  bowed  down 
with  concern  together,  and  scarcely  one  was  able  to 
stand  the  shock  of  this  surprising  operation.  Old  men 

convictions  of  sin  and  solid  consolations  which  numbers  have  expe- 
rienced; and  might  I  have  had  my  desire,  there  had  been  no  appear- 
ance of  any  thing  of  this  nature  at  all.'  " — A  Present  Heaven.  Ticknor 
&  Fields,  Boston,  1863. 


u4  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  women  who  had  been  drunken  wretches  for  many 
years,  and  some  little  children  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
years  of  age,  appeared  in  distress  for  their  souls.  The 
most  stubborn  hearts  were  now  compelled  to  bow. 

"They  were  almost  universally  praying  and  crying  for 
mercy  in  every  part  of  the  house,  and  many  out  of  doors, 
and  numbers  could  neither  go  nor  stand.  Their  concern 
was  so  great,  each  one  for  himself,  that  none  seemed  to 
take  any  notice  of  those  about  him,  but  each  prayed 
freely  for  himself.  I  must  say  I  never  saw  any  day  like 
it  in  all  respects. 

"  Sabbath  afternoon,  Aug.  9. — Though  I  had  not  spoken 
a  word  of  terror,  a  divine  influence  caused  several  persons 
to  cry  out  in  anguish  of  soul. 

"August  1 6. — I  never  saw  the  work  of  God  so  inde- 
pendent of  means  as  at  this  time.  I  seemed  to  do  no- 
thing, and,  indeed,  to  have  nothing  to  do  but  stand  still 
and  see  the  salvation  of  God ;  and  found  myself  obliged 
and  delighted  to  say,  'Not  unto  us,'  as  instruments  and 
means,  'but  to  thy  name  be  glory!'  ' 

The  scene  was  Pentecostal.  Indeed,  considering 
the  numbers  impressed,  compared  with  the  whole 
number  present,  it  transcended  in  results  the  glo- 
rious day  of  Pentecost  itself. 

"A  young  Indian  woman,  who  had  on  her  way  to  the 
meeting  laughed  and  mocked,  was  so  concerned  for  her 
soul,  that  she  seemed  like  one  pierced  through  with  a 
dart,  and  cried  out  in  the  assembly.  After  public  service 
was  over,  she  lay  flat  on  the  ground.  She  could  neither 
go,  nor  stand,  nor  sit  in  her  seat  without  being  held  up. 

"  I  hearkened  to  her  prayer.  It  was  :  '  Guttummauka- 
lummeh  wechaitmeh  kmeleh  nolah  f  that  is,  '•Have  mercy  on 
me,  and  help  me  to  give  you  my  heart  T  ' 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  115 

Remember  that  David  Brainerd  spoke  by  an  in- 
terpreter of  ordinary  capacity  and  attainments,  sin- 
cere but  illiterate,  and  you  will  see  there  was  no 
opportunity  for  passionate  rhetoric.  It  is  also  well 
known  that  Brainerd  always  held  a  strong  rein  on 
his  imagination.  In  modern  days  he  would  be  re- 
garded as  scholastic,  biblical,  theological;  almost 
prosaic.  In  preaching,  he  relied  more  on  the  love 
of  Christ  than  on  the  terrors  of  the  law  and  the  fear 
of  perdition. 

The  effects  following  the  preaching  of  such  a 
man  to  such  a  people  indicate  the  presence  of  a 
Divine  Power,  which  we  regard  with  awe  and 
reverence. 

Under  this  power  savages  became  civilized,  mur- 
derers relented,  drunkards  reformed,  adulterers  be- 
came chaste,  scoffers  reverential.  Among  these  pa- 
gans marriages  were  solemnized,  families  organized, 
altars  set  up  in  wigwams,  dwellings  erected,  farms 
cleared  and  cultivated,  schools  patronized,  the  Sab- 
bath consecrated,  and  the  public  worship  of  God 
attended.  This  wonderful  scene  advises  the  Church 
what  may  be  hoped  for  the  whole  pagan  world, 
when  men  like  David  Brainerd  go  everywhere  to 
pray  and  preach,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descends  to 
help.  A  nation  will  be  born  in  a  day. 

But,  as  we  have  said,  such  excitements  among 
one  hundred  and  twenty  Indians,  two-thirds  of 
whom  had  become  hopeful  Christians,  could  not 
be  long  continued. 


n6  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

With  the  waning  novelty  of  gospel  truth,  the 
frequent  arid  long  absences  of  the  pastor,  and  the 
natural  tendency  of  even  the  converted  heart  to 
re-act  from  great  excitements,  it  is  matter  of  grati- 
tude that  two  years  after  the  revival  began  John 
Brainerd  could  say,  "the  work  of  Divine  Grace 
still  went  on  among  the  Indians." 

Happily  we  have  fallen  on  a  letter,  giving  a 
very  brief  but  distinct  outline  of  the  Mission  in 
1747.  We  extract  the  letter  from  the  Appendix 
of  Dr.  Philip  Doddridge's  "Life  of  David  Brain- 
erd:"— * 

"For  the  Rev'd  Mr.  EBENEZER  PEMBERTON,  of  New  York. 

"Since  you  are  pleased  to  require  me  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  present  situation  of  affairs  among  those  In- 
dians which,  at  this  present  time,  I  have  the  more  imme- 
diate care  of,  I  shall  endeavor  to  do  it  in  as  brief  but  just 
a  manner  as  I  can.  And, 

"ist.  There  are  now  belonging  to  the  Society  of 
Indians  something  upward  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons,  old  and  young,  who,  I  think,  may  properly  be 

*  Dr.  Philip  Doddridge,  in  his  "Abridgment  of  the  Life  of  David 
Brainerd,"  published  in  London,  1748,  says,  p.  13: — 

"The  Honorable  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge  have  very 
lately  received  letters  from  their  corresponding  members  at  New  York,  dated  in  February 
last,  'giving  an  account  of  the  much-to-be-lamented  death  of  Mr.  David  Brainerd,  who 
(as  they  express  it)  was  much  honored  hj  God  in  life  and  death .''  And  that  his  brother,  Mr. 
John  Brainerd,  succeeds  in  the  honorable  employment  of  missionary  at  the  new  Indian 
town,  which  they  have  properly  enough  named  Bethel,  where  he  bids  fair  to  follow  the 
footsteps  of  his  deceased  brother,  not  only  in  his  piety,  but  in  his  abilities,  activity,  and 
zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God;  and  that  he  meets  with  great  encouragement  and  acceptance 
among  the  Indians,  whose  congregation  and  English  school  continue  to  prosper  and  in- 
crease by  new-comers  from  other  Indian  countries." 

The  above  shows  the  estimate  in  which  Rev.  John  Brainerd  was 
held,  at  that  early  day,  by  the  able  men  who  employed  him. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD.  117 

called  inhabitants  of  the  town.  2dly.  Among  these 
there  are  thirty-seven  who  have  been  admitted  to  the 
Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  who, 
in  a  judgment  of  charity,  appear  to  have  experienced  a 
work  of  saving  grace  in  their  hearts.  There  are  also 
several  others  who,  as  I  have  reason  to  think,  are  truly 
religious,  and  stand  as  proper  candidates  for  those  gospel 
ordinances. 

"3dly.  Out  of  the  number  first  mentioned  there  are 
about  thirty  persons  who  came  "to  this  place  since  my 
arrival  here,  which  was  the  I5th  of  April  last.  About 
ten  of  these  are  adults.  I  have  reason  to  think  all  ration- 
ally convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
under  some  degree  of  concern  ;  and  most  of  them  appear 
to  be  much  concerned,  and  their  convictions  seem  to  be 
permanent  and  genuine. 

"The  next  thing  I  shall  mention  is  the  school,  which 
consists  of  fifty-three  children,  who  properly  belong  to  it 
and  generally  attend  upon  it ;  twenty-seven  of  these  read 
in  the  Testament,  and  most  of  them  can  say  the  Assem- 
bly's Shorter  Catechism  throughout  by  heart.  Others 
read  in  Psalters,  Spelling-books,  and  Primers,  and  many 
of  them  can  say  the  Catechism  half  through.  These 
children  are  many  of  them  under  religious  impressions, 
and  seem  to  be  earnestly  inquiring  the  way  to  Zion ;  and 
some,  even  of  the  new-comers,  are  much  concerned  for 
the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  all  that  are  grown  to  any 
considerable  bigness  (so  far  as  we  can  know  by  observing 
and  inquiring  of  their  parents,  and  of  one  concerning 
another)  do  live  in  the  constant  performance  of  secret 
duties. 

"As  touching  their  secular  affairs,  they  are  much 
more  comfortable  than  they  were.  They  have  upwards 

of  forty  acres  of  English  grain  in  the  ground,  and  near 

11 


u8  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

about  so  much  Indian  corn;  and  they  do,  I  think,  in 
general  follow  their  secular  business  as  well  as  can  be 
expected,  considering  they  have  all  their  days  been  used 
to  sloth  and  idleness.  Thus,  sir,  I  have  given  a  very 
brief  answer  to  your  demands,  but,  I  think,  just  account 
of  the  present  condition  of  these  Indians ;  and  am, 
"Rev.  sir,  yours,  &c., 

"JoHN  BRAINERD. 

"From  Bethel,  the  Indian  Town 

in  New  Jersey,  June  23,  1747." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  119 


CHAPTER  X. 

JOHN  BRAINERD  MEETS  AFFLICTION  IN  THE  OUTSET — SICKJNESS  AMONG 
THE  INDIANS — SLANDERS  FROM  THOSE  WITHOUT — SENT  FOR  TO  AT- 
TEND HIS  DYING  BROTHER  DAVID. 

JOHN  BRAINERD  had  hardly  settled  himself  at* 
Cranberry  before  he  began  to  experience  great 
and  unanticipated  trials.     He  says : — 

"About  this  time  a  mortal  sickness  prevailed  among 
the  Indians,  and  carried  off  a  considerable  number,  and 
especially  of  those  who  had  been  religiously  wrought 
upon ;  which  made  some  infidels  say,  as  in  the  days  of 
Constantine,  that  it  was  because  they  had  forsaken  the 
old  Indian  ways  and  become  Christians." 

Such  a  pestilence  in  the  forest  must  have  been 
a  painful  spectacle  to  the  young  pastor.  Swarthy, 
stout-limbed  hunters  writhing  in  death  on  the 
earth  floor  of  their  cabins ;  Indian  mothers  suffer- 
ing, but  tearless  and  firm,  bidding  farewell  to  their 
homeless,  penniless,  and  almost  friendless  children; 
young  men,  maidens,  and  little  children,  but  slightly 
educated  in  gospel  truths,  were  compelled  to  face 
the  awful  mystery  of  death! 

Without  a  full  shelter  from  the  cold,  the  heat, 
the  wintry  storm  or  summer  rain,  without  a  soft 
resting-place  or  friendly  attendant,  without  proper 


izo  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAIN ERD, 

diet  or  medical  skill,  without  materials  for  pleasant 
reflection,  or  hope  as  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  the  wig- 
wam of  a  dying  savage  seems  almost  an  appropriate 
vestibule  to  the  dark  world  of  woe  itself. 

Brainerd  doubtless  mourned  the  fact,  that  his 
Christian  people  were  mainly  the  victims;  but  he 
must  have  drawn  some  relief  from  the  hope  which 
cheered  them  in  dying,  and  the  gospel  beams  which 
illumined  their  dark  cabins  and  softened  their  hard 
pillows.  It  would  give  him  a  sustaining  joy  to  know 
that  so  many  of  those  who  had  wept  with  his  bro- 
ther were  going  to  triumph  with  him  in  heaven. 

But  this  was  not  all.  He  was  not  only  doomed 
to  an  early  bereavement  by  the  loss  of  his  dear 
people,  but  compelled  to  endure  the  taunts  of  the 
wicked;  as  if  Christianity  were  a  crime  to  be 
visited  with  Divine  judgments.  When  the  good 
suffer  affliction,  infidels  are  likely  for  the  time  to 
affect  piety  and  see  the  hand  of  God  in  his  provi- 
dence. 

Brainerd  does  not  say  so  in  words;  but  we 
gather  from  his  remarks  that  the  afflictions  of  his 
people  were  seized  upon  by  hardened  opposers  as 
an  occasion  to  prejudice  the  yet  unconverted  In- 
dians still  more  against  Christianity,  and  "to  add 
affliction  to  his  bonds."  No  wonder  Brainerd 
says:  "This  seemed  to  me  a  mysterious  frown  of 
Divine  Providence."  We  hope  he  did  not  forget 
that, 

'•  Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
God  hides  a  smiling  face." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  121 

Of  Brainerd's  first  labors,  from  April  to  Septem- 
ber, 1747,  we  have  few  details.  He  seems  to  have 
prosecuted  his  work  in  the  very  spirit  of  his  bro- 
ther, with  zeal,  assiduity,  wisdom,  and  success.  In 
the  memoirs  of  President  Edwards  and  of  David 
Brainerd  we  have  a  few  hints  throwing  light  on 
the  young  missionary's  first  endeavors. 

David  Brainerd,  after  parting  with  John  at  Eliza- 
bethtown,  set  out  on  his  final  journey  to  New  Eng- 
land, April  21.  Travelling  slowly  on  horseback, 
he  reached  his  friends  in  Haddam,  Conn.,  about 
the  1st  of  May.  From  thence,  by  easy  journeys 
up  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  he  made  his  way, 
May  28,  to  Northampton,  the  residence  of  Dr.  Ed- 
wards. Tarrying  there  until  June  9,  he  then  started 
for  Boston. 

He  was  accompanied  in  this  final  journey  by 
Jerusha  Edwards,  a  young  lady  in  her  eighteenth 
year,  the  second  daughter  of  President  Edwards. 

The  relation  of  David  Brainerd  to  this  young 
lady  constitutes  one  of  the  most  romantic  inci- 
dents of  his  personal  history.  Though  it  is  not  so 
affirmed  directly  by  her  father  in  his  memoir  of 
Brainerd,  yet  it  is  believed  that  the  young  lady 
had  given  her  heart  and  plighted  her  hand  to  the 
martyr  missionary.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Field,  of  Stockr 
bridge,  says: — 

44  They  had  anticipated  great  happiness  in  married  life 
in  this  world,  surrounded  by  pious  relatives  and  friends, 
and  engaged  with  them  in  acts  of  piety  and  devotion; 

11* 


122  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

but  they  have  enjoyed  more  in  connection  with  each 
other  in  heaven  already,  and  their  happiness  is  only 
begun." 

The  two  on  horseback,  every  thing  to  each 
other,  wending  their  way  over  hills  and  valleys 
for  one  hundred  miles  to  Boston,  would  be  a  fine 
subject  for  the  poet's  pen  or  the  painter's  pencil. 
The  tall,  attenuated,  yet  striking  form  of  the  mis- 
sionary, his  brilliant  eye  but  blanched  cheek,  his 
worn  features,  on  which  labor  and  suffering  had 
put  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  the  stamp  of  years ; 
his  hallowed  reveries,  his  deep  spiritual  commu- 
nion, his  pensiveness,  often  interrupted,  checked, 
and  humanized  by  the  conscious  presence,  the 
blooming  cheek  and  radiant  eye,  the  musical  voice 
and  cheerful  bearing  of  the  healthful,  hopeful,  and 
affectionate  being  at  his  side, — what  a  scene  for 
canvas, — what  a  theme  for  poetry !  But  perhaps 
poet  and  painter  have  shrunk  back  in  despair  at 
their  inability  to  depict  earth's  highest  hopes 
paling  and  dying  under  the  brighter  gleamings  of 
Heaven's  nearing  glory.  Earth's  deepest  affec- 
tions and  softest  emotions  still  living  and  glowing, 
but  absorbed  in  the  richer  love  of  Christ! 

We  shall  allude  again  to  this  companion  of 
Brainerd,  and  only  quote  here  the  language  of 
Peabody : — 

"  She  said,  when  dying,  that  for  years  she  had  not  seen 
the  time  when  she  had  the  least  desire  to  live  one  mo- 
ment longer,  except  for  the  sake  of  doing  good  and  fill- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  123 

ing  up  the  measure  of  her  duty :  such  a  being,  though 
no  warmer  sentiment  mingled  with  her  admiration  of  his 
character  and  her  delight  in  his  conversation,  was  a  fit 
companion  of  his  dying  hours."* 

Her  offer  to  accompany  Brainerd,  as  his  sole 
companion  and  nurse,  is  evidence  of  her  brave 
and  generous  love.  That  no  parental  prudence 
detained  her,  and  no  breath  of  scandal  ever  lighted 
upon  her,  is  a  proof  that  her  moral  worth  was  equal 
to  her  great  heroism. 

The  interesting  travellers  reached  Boston  in 
three  days.  Instead  of  mending,  Brainerd  grew 
rapidly  worse.  "My  friends,"  he  says,  "divers 
times  gathered  around  my  bed  to  see  me  breathe 
my  last,  which  they  expected  every  moment,  as  I 
myself  also  did." 

Retaining  unimpaired  his  intellectual  powers, 
watching  in  the  fear  of  God  his  frame  and  temper 
of  mind,  and  stimulated  by  the  most  vivid  and 
penetrating  apprehensions  of  an  opening  eternity, 
,he  not  only  from  day  to  day,  as  a  little  returning 
strength  permitted,  recorded  his  own  dying  expe- 
rience, but  indited  and  transmitted  to  his  mission- 
ary-brother John,  in  New  Jersey,  and  others,  his 
dying  thoughts  and  counsels. 

We  regard  the  fol-1  owing  letter  as  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  ever  written.  It  was  addressed 
to  his  own  absent,  well-beloved,  and  trusted  bro- 

*  Sparks'  Biography,  vol.  viii. 


124  LIFE    OF  -JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

ther  as  a  final  message,  but  it  hardly  alludes  to 
the  fraternal  relation  of  the  parties.  The  writer 
seems  like  one  who  has  already  insulated  himself 
from  earthly  ties  and  become  like  an  angel  of 
God.  He  writes  like  one  so  lifted  above  earth 
that  its  cords  were  sundered  and  time  lost  in  a 
broad  vision  and  deep  penetration  of  eternity. 
We  quote  from  President  Edwards: — 

"  David's  final  letter  to  John,  at  Bethel,  the  Town  of  Chris- 
tian Indians  in  New  Jersey. 
"DEAR  BROTHER: — 

"I  am  now  just  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  expecting 
very  speedily  to  appear  in  the  unseen  world.  I  feel  my- 
self no  more  an  inhabitant  of  earth,  and  sometimes  ear- 
nestly long  to  'depart  and  be  with  Christ.'  I  bless  God 
he  has  for  some  years  given  me  an  abiding  conviction, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  any  rational  creature  to  enjoy 
true  happiness  without  being  entirely  'devoted  to  him.' 
Under  the  influence  of  this  conviction  I  have,  in  some 
measure,  acted.  Oh  that  I  had  done  more  so !  I  saw 
both  the  excellency  and  necessity  of  holiness  in  life  j  but 
never  in  such  a  manner  as  now,  when  I  am  just  brought 
from  the  sides  of  the  grave.  O  my  brother,  pursue 
after  holiness, — press  towards  this  blessed  mark ;  and  let 
your  thirsty  soul  continually  say,  '  I  shall  never  be  satis- 
fied till  I  awake  in  thy  likeness.'  Although  there  has 
been  a  great  deal  of  selfishness  in  my  views,  of  which  I 
am  ashamed,  and  for  which  my  soul  is  humbled  at  every 
view,  yet,  blessed  be  God,  I  find  I  have  really  had,  for 
the  most  part,  such  a  concern  for  his  glory  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  that  it  is  a  satis- 
faction to  me  to  reflect  upon  these  years. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4INERD.  125 

"And  now,  my  dear  brother,  as  I  must  press  you  to 
pursue  after  personal  holiness,  to  be  as  much  in  fasting 
and  prayer  as  your  health  will  allow,  and  to  live  above 
the  rate  of  common  Christians,  so  I  must  entreat  you 
solemnly  to  attend  to  your  public  work :  labor  to  distin- 
guish between  true  and  false  religion,  and  to  that  end 
watch  the  motions  of  God's  Spirit  upon  your  heart. 
Look  to  him  for  help,  and  impartially  compare  your 
experiences  with  his  word.  Value  religious  joys  accord- 
ing to  the  subject-matter  of  them  :  there  are  many  who 
rejoice  in  their  supposed  justification  ;  but  what  do  these 
joys  argue,  but  only  that  they  love  themselves?  Whereas, 
in  true  spiritual  joys,  the  soul  rejoices  in  God  for  what 
he  is  in  himself;  blesses  God  for  his  holiness,  sovereignty, 
power,  faithfulness,  and  all  his  perfections ;  adores  God, 
that  he  is  what  he  is,  that  he  is  unchangeably  possessed 
of  infinite  glory  and  happiness.  Now,  when  men  thus 
rejoice  in  the  perfections  of  God,  and  in  the  infinite  excel- 
lency of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ,  and  in  the  holy  com- 
mands of  God,  which  are  a  transcript  of  his  holy  nature, 
these  joys  are  divine  and  spiritual.  Our  joys  will  stand 
by  us  at  the  hour  of  death,  if  we  can  be  then  satisfied 
that  we  have  thus  acted  above  self,  and  in  a  disinterested 
manner,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  rejoiced  in  the  glory  of 
the  blessed  God.  I  fear  you  are  not  sufficiently  aware 
how  much  false  religion  there  is  in  the  world :  many 
serious  Christians  and  valuable  ministers  are  too  easily 
imposed  upon  by  this  false  blaze.  I  likewise  fear  you 
are  not  sensible  of  the  dreadful  effects  and  consequences 
of  this  false  religion.  Set  yourself,  my  brother,  to  crush 
all  appearances  of  this  nature  among  the  Indians,  and 
never  encourage  any  degree  of  heat  without  light.  Charge 
my  people  in  the  name  of  their  dying  minister,  yea,  in  the 
name  of  Him  who  was  dead,  and  is  alive,  to  live  and  walk 


126  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

as  becomes  the  gospel.  Tell  them  how  great  the  expect- 
ations of  God  and  his  people  are  from  them,  and  how 
awfully  they  will  wound  God's  cause  if  they  fall  into 
vice,  as  well  as  fatally  prejudice  other  poor  Indians. 
Always  insist  that  their  experiences  are  rotten,  that  their 
joys  are  delusive,  although  they  may  have  been  rapt  up 
in  the  third  heavens  in  their  own  conceit  by  them,  unless 
the  main  tenor  of  their  lives  be  spiritual,  watchful,  and 
holy.  In  pressing  these  things,  'thou  shalt  both  save 
thyself  and  those  that  hear  thee.' 

"God  knows  I  was  heartily  willing  to  have  served 
him  longer  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  although  it  had 
still  been  attended  with  all  the  labors  and  hardships  of 
past  years,  if  he  had  seen  fit  that  it  should  be  so;  but, 
as  his  will  now  appears  otherwise,  I  am  fully  content, 
and  can,  with  the  utmost  freedom,  say,  'The  will  of  the 
Lord  be  done.'  It  affects  me  to  think  of  leaving  you  in 
a  world  of  sin;  my  heart  pities  you,  that  those  storms 
and  tempests  are  yet  before  you  from  which,  I  trust, 
through  grace,  I  am  almost  delivered.  But  'God  lives, 
and,  blessed  be  my  Rock !'  he  is  the  same  Almighty 
Friend ;  and  will,  I  trust,  be  your  Guide  and  Helper,  as 
he  has  been  mine. 

"And  now,  my  dear  brother,  I  commend  you  to  God, 
and  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  'which  is  able  to  build  you 
up,  and  give  you  inheritance  among  all  them  that  are 
sanctified.'  May  you  enjoy  the  Divine  Presence  both  in 
private  and  public  ;  and  may  'the  arms  of  your  hands  be 
made  strong  by  the  right  hand  of  the  mighty  God  of 
Jacob.'  Which  are  the  passionate  desires  and  prayers  of 
"Your  affectionate,  dying  brother, 

"DAVID  BRAINERD." 

The  emotions  stirred  by  reading  in  Lis  lone  In- 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRAINERD.  127 

dian  cabin  such  a  letter  from  a  dying  brother,  we 
leave  the  reader  to  imagine. 

But  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  David  Brainerd 
should  not  die  in  Boston.  By  going  there  lie  had 
accomplished  a  great  work.  He  had  illustrated  in 
his  own  person  the  martyr-spirit  of  Christianity 
and  the  beauty  of  holiness.  He  had  originated  a 
deep  and  practical  sympathy  for  missions,  which 
has  survived  to  the  present  hour.  He  had  by  his 
counsel  influenced  the  selection  of  two  young  men, 
Job  Strong,  of  Northampton  (Brainerd's  cousin), 
and  Elihu  Spencer,  of  Haddam,  to  go  as  mission- 
aries to  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians.  He  had  a 
work  to  do  of  laboring  and  suffering  in  Boston: 
"he  finished  the  work"  there  given  him  to  do. 

When  his  brother  Israel,  from  Yale  College, 
reached  Boston,  David  had  revived.  The  young 
brother  brought  to  him  "the  sorrowful  tidings  of 
his  sister  Spencer's*  death  in  Haddam." 

She  was  a  dear  sister.  Her  house  in  Haddam, 
save  his  Indian  cabin,  had  been  his  only  earthly 
home.  But  he  was  comforted  by  confidence  in  her 
true  piety,  which  inspired  a  hope  of  soon  meeting 
her  in  heaven.  She  had  crossed  the  cold  river: 


*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  in  his  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  supposes  the  sister  Spencer  above  referred  to  was  the 
wife  of  General  Joseph  Spencer,  of  the  Revolution.  This  is  a  mis- 
take. Two  of  Brainerd's  sisters,  Jerusha  and  Martha,  married  Spen- 
cers. Jerusha  married  Samuel  Spencer,  of  East  Haddam;  Martha 
was  the  wife  of  the  general. 

See  Dr.  Field.     Brainerd  Genealogy,  p.  252. 


128  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

his  own  feet  began  to  touch  the  stream.    He  could 
say: — 

"My  gentle  sister  crossed  the  flood, 
And  I  am  crossing  now 

July  20,  David  Brainerd  had  so  far  recovered 
that  he  started  for  Northampton.  The  company 
now  consisted  of  Jerusha  Edwards,  David  Brain- 
erd, and  his  young  brother  Israel.  Averaging  six- 
teen miles  a  day,  the  little,  stricken,  but  religiously 
peaceful  group  reached  Northampton  in  a  few  days. 
The  ages  of  the  party  were  respectively  twenty- 
nine,  twenty -three,  and  eighteen:  all  highly  edu- 
cated and  devoutly  pious,  but  all  destined  to  die 
in  less  than  one  year. 

They  arrived  at  Northampton,  July  25.  Brain- 
erd had  been  stimulated  by  his  journey ;  but  now 
"he  gradually  decayed,  becoming  weaker."  Sep- 
tember 2,  "for  the  last  time  he  went  out  of  our 
gate  alive,"  in  a  final  visit  to  the  house  of  God. 

His  brother  John,  advised  of  his  increased  sick- 
ness, had  left  Cranberry  to  meet  David  at  North- 
ampton. To  the  dying  missionary  this  was  an 
unexpected  pleasure.  He  had  not  suggested  it, 
though  he  desired  it.  President  Edwards  says: — 

"  He  was  much  refreshed  by  this  visit,  for  his  brother 
was  peculiarly  dear  to  him ;  and  he  seemed  to  rejoice  in 
a  devout  and  solemn  manner  to  see  him,  and  to  hear  the 
comfortable  tidings  he  brought  concerning  the  state  of 
his  dear  congregation  of  Christian  Indians.  John  also 
brought  some  of  his  private  writings,  particularly  his 
diary,  which  he  had  kept  for  several  years  past." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  129 

This  diary,  so  considerately  brought  to  him, 
gave  him  intense  satisfaction.  He  lived  his  life 
over,  and  comforted  the  weakness  of  his  dying 
hours  by  the  recollection  of  honest  and  earnest 
labor  in  the  past. 

John  remained  one  week,  and  then,  being  com- 
pelled to  return  to  New  Jersey  on  urgent  business, 
intrusted  the  invalid  to  the  care  of  his  younger 
brother  Israel,  who  reached  Northampton  on  the 
17th  of  September. 

That  John  could  leave  a  brother  in  this  state  at 
the  call  of  duty  is  evidence  of  great  conscientious- 
ness; that  he  hastened  his  return  from  the  long 
journey  proves  his  deep  fraternal  love.  No  human 
passion  was  allowed  to  control  conscience,  and  no 
pretence  of  religious  obligation  was  urged  as  an 
apology  for  the  absence  of  natural  affection.  In 
these  brothers  the  conscience  and  the  fine  senti- 
ments of  humanity  seemed  to  have  a  most  beauti- 
ful and  symmetrical  blending. 

In  the  temporary  absence  of  his  brother,  David 
employed  his  fleeting  hours  in  carrying  out,  by 
painfully- written  epistles,  his  missionary  plans. 
He  counselled  his  young  brother;  he  wrote  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bryan,  of  New  Jersey,  a  letter  for  the 
benefit  of  his  church ;  he  gave  repeated  exhorta- 
tions to  friends  around  his  bedside,  and  especially 
to  the  younger  children  of  his  distinguished  friend, 
President  Edwards. 

But  he  especially  occupied  himself  in  correcting 


12 


1 3o  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

his  diary*  He  seems  to  have  been  conscious  of 
the  power  and  eloquence  of  his  sublime  religious 
experience,  and  expecting  to  live,  as  he  has  lived, 
in  the  Church's  memory. 

On  the  27th  of  September,  he  said : — 

"  I  am  almost  in  eternity.  I  long  to  be  there ;  my 
work  is  done!  I  am  willing  to  part  with  all.  I  am 
willing  to  part  with  my  dear  brother  John,  and  never  see 
him  again,  to  go  and  be  forever  with  the  Lord." 

*  We  have  before  us  one  hundred  and  twenty  pages  of  this  diary 
in  the  au'hor's  own  hand.  He  wrote  in  small  duodecimo  books,  about 
four  by  six  inches  in  size,  comprehending  from  forty  to  one  hundred 
pages  each.  Each  little  manuscript  volume  was  neatly  bound  in 
strong  paper  or  parchment.  We  have  two  of  these  volumes  entire. 
The  first  contains  only  his  religious  experience,  a  great  part  of  which 
was  copied  verbatim  by  Edwards.  It  is  bound  with  parchment.  On 
the  first  page  is  only  written,  "David  Brainerd's  Book."  The  other 
volume  is  his  journal  at  Kaunaurneek  (or,  as  he  spells  it,  "Cannau- 
muck"),  from  May  to  November,  1743.  It  includes  the  entire  his- 
tory of  his  conflict  with  Yale  College,  his  confession  in  full,  and  his 
remarks  on  his  treatment.  Of  this  journal,  Edwards  published  not 
more  than  a  fourth  part:  we  may  yet  give  it  entire,  just  as  Brainerd 
wrote  it.  It  is  justly  severe  on  the  college  authorities:  they  broke 
his  heart. 

This  "Cannaumuck"  diary  is  marked  "V.  VOL.,"  showing  how 
early  and  carefully  he  recorded  his  daily  life. 

In  the  diary  of  his  experience,  on  the  margin  of  page  30,  he  says : 
"  I  can  correct  no  farther. — D.  B."  David  Brainerd's  initials  are  in- 
serted at  the  close  of  his  corrections.  It  was  probably  the  last  he 
wrote,  as  on  the  next  page  we  read:  "  The  authors  own  corrections 
by  another  hand," — that  is,  by  the  hand  of  his  brother  Israel.  It 
may  interest  some  to  know  that  the  lines  in  Brainerd's  Diary  were 
about  the  sixth  of  an  inch  apart;  the  chirography  neat,  clear,  and 
tasteful,  and  scarce  an  interline  or  blot  in  two  hundred  pages.  As 
he  wrote  while  journeying  in  the  forest,  and  in  smoky  Indian  wig- 
wams, this  is  an  evidence  of  exceeding  care  in  such  minor  matters. 
I  know  some  of  my  friends  will  think  the  present  writer  might  profit 
by  such  an  example. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  131 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  mysterious,  almost 
unearthly,  bond  linking  the  hearts  of  these  bro- 
thers. They  loved  as  brothers  by  blood,  and  as 
angels  love  who  discern  in  each  other  "the  beauty 
of  holiness." 

John  was  still  absent, — detained  against  his  will 
in  New  Jersey.  David  had  expressed  a  desire,  if 
it  might  be  the  will  of  God,  to  live  till  his  brother 
returned.  John's  delay  and  absence  threw  a  shade 
over  the  heaven -lit  raptures  of  the  dying  saint.  But 
he  submitted  to  the  will  of  God. 

Probably  his  longing  for  John's  presence  was 
not  wholly  from  his  natural  affection,  but  from  his 
great  interest  in  the  Indian  mission. 

"When  he  spoke  of  his  own  congregation  of  Chris- 
tian Indians  in  New  Jersey,  it  was  with  peculiar  tender- 
ness, so  that  his  speech  would  be  presently  interrupted  and 
drowned  in  tears." 

His  beloved  brother,  his  affianced  bride,  his 
earthly  friends,  were  precious ;  but  dearer  than  all 
was  his  Master's  work.  His  glazing  eyes  moist- 
ened only  as  flitted  before  his  mental  vision  the 
Indian  converts,  for  whose  salvation  he  had  sacri- 
ficed his  life.  October  2,  he  says: — 

"I  felt  sweetly  disposed  to  commit  all  to  God, — even 
my  dearest  friends,  my  dearest  flock,  my  absent  brother, 
and  all  my  concerns  for  time  and  eternity.  Oh  that  his 
kingdom  might  come  in  this  world;  that  all  might  love 
and  glorify  him  for  what  he  is  in  himself!  O  come, 
Lord  Jesus  !  come  quickly  !  Amen!" 


1 32  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

These  are  the  last  words,  dictated  to  Israel,  in 
David's  diary.  Was  any  diary  or  any  life  ever 
better  ended  since  the  Great  Martyr  cried,  "It  is 
finished"? 

But  the  scene  does  not  close  here.  On  the  Sab- 
bath, October  4,  he  looked  on  Jerusha  Edwards 
pleasantly,  and  said : — 

"  Dear  Jerusha,  are  you  willing  to  part  with  me  ?  I 
am  quite  willing  to  part  with  you.  I  am  willing  to  part 
with  all  my  friends.  I  am  willing  to  part  with  my  dear 
brother  John^  although  I  love  him  the  best  of  any  crea- 
ture living.  Though  if  I  thought  I  should  not  see  you 
and  be  happy  with  you  in  another  world,  I  could  not 
even  part  with  you.  But  we  shall  spend  a  happy  eter- 
nity together." 

At  first  sight,  this  seems  to  be  a  strange  decla- 
ration. That  a  young  man  of  twenty-nine  years 
of  age  should  aver  to  an  affectionate,  faithful, 
comely  maiden  of  eighteen,  to  whom  he  had 
pledged  his  hand  and  heart,  and  who  with  mar- 
tyr-love had  clung  to  his  weakness  day  and  night 
for  weeks  and  months;  who  had  almost  over- 
stepped the  proprieties  of  her  sex  to  soothe  his 
dying  pillow,  who  now  stood  in  anguish  and  tears 
at  his  bedside  to  catch  and  embalm  his  words  of 
tenderness  as  life-treasures;  that  Brainerd  should 
say  to  such  an  one  that  he  "preferred  his  brother 
John  to  all  creatures  living,"  seems  at  first  blush 
to  be  unnatural,  almost  unkind,  and  inconsistent 
with  his  character.  Some  have  inferred  that  the 


£IFE    OF   JOHN   BR4INERD.  133 

love  of  the  parties  was  unmingled  with  sentiments 
more  tender  than  general  admiration  and  Christian 
regard. 

We  do  not  draw  this  inference ;  nor  do  we  infer 
any  want  of  tenderness  in  the  dying  martyr.  In 
his  holy  affections  he  had  so  sublimated  every 
sympathy  of  his  nature,  that  he  judged  and  esti- 
mated those  around  him  as  a  spirit  of  another 
sphere  alighting  on  the  .earth  might  have  done. 
His  brother  John  he  had  known  from  childhood. 
He  had  prayed  deliberately  and  specially  for  him, 
with  fasting,  in  his  wigwam,  at  Kaunaumeek.* 
He  had  imparted  to  him  the  most  deliberate  and 
searching  counsels.  That  brother  was  dear  to  him 
as  a  kinsman ;  but  doubly  dear  when,  sanctified 
by  grace,  he  had  undertaken  to  carry  out  the  life- 
aims  of  David,  and  was  then  actually  folding  the 
dying  martyr's  little  flock  in  the  wilderness.  This 
seems  the  key  to  explain  the  mysterious  declara- 
tion. 

Jerusha  Edwards  was  his  own  peculiar  treasure, 
which  he  could  surrender  for  a  time  to  reclaim  and 
enjoy  in  heaven.  His  brother  John  was  not  only 
his  treasure,  but  the  ambassador  of  God,  appointed 
to  a  holy  labor,  on  which  David  would  gaze  with 
interest  from  the  skies.  In  this  view,  Jerusha  did 
not  infer  that  she  possessed  less  love  than  her 

*  In  David  Brainerd's  manuscript  journal,  under  date  of  May  6, 
1743,  he  says.  "  I  was  somewhat  drawn  out  in  prayer  for  a  certain 
friend,  meo  fratri  juniori,  that  God  would  make  him  a  blessing  in  his 
day."  He  says  the  same  elsewhere. 


i34  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

heart  claimed,  but  that  her  dying  friend  subordi- 
nated even  his  deepest  earthly  affection  to  one 
more  elevated  and  holy.  Her  own  father,  by  re- 
cording this  declaration  with  apparent  approval, 
seems  to  have  understood  it  in  this  sense.  In  re- 
turning from  this  episode,  may  we  not  ask  if  the 
man  whom  David  Brainerd  "loved  better  than 
any  other  creature  on  earth"  is  not  worthy  of  this 
biography,  that  he  might  to  the  end  of  time  be 
loved  by  the  whole  Church  of  God? 

We  have  alluded  to  the  submissive,  but  strong 
desire  of  David  to  see  John  once  more.  He  was 
gratified.  True  to  his  promise  and  fraternal  im- 
pulses, John,  after  many  hindrances  in  New  Jersey 
and  a  long  journey,  nevertheless  reached  North- 
ampton, October  7,  before  David  died. 

John  had  been  detained  by  a  "mortal  sickness 
among  the  Indians."  Duty  first.  His  heart 
yearned  to  be  with  his  sick  brother;  but  he  sub- 
jects his  feelings  to  his  conscience,  and  the  com- 
fort arid  solace  of  one  man,  even  his  own  brother, 
to  the  pastoral  duty  of  sustaining  and  comforting 
the  hearts  of  such  of  his  Indian  flock  as  were  dying 
under  the  dark  wing  of  a  fatal  pestilence.  He  was 
worthy  to  be  David's  brother  and  successor. 

So  David  regarded  the  matter.  He  was  affected 
and  refreshed  by  seeing  him,  arid  fully  satisfied  with 
the  reasons  of  his  delay,  when  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion and  the  souls  of  his  people  required  it.  Pas- 
tors! missionaries!  In  looking  at  these  brothers, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  135 

may  we  not  "put  our  shoes  from  off  our  feet.  The 
ground  on  which  we  tread  is  holy." 

With  David,  life  was  fast  ebbing.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  night  preceding  the  morning  of  his 
death,  he  besought  prayers  for  support  under  his 
agonies.  He  said  "it  was  impossible  to  conceive 
the  distress  which  he  felt  in  his  breast."  In  these 
circumstances,  "when  it  was  very  late  at  night, 
he  had  much  profitable  discourse  with  his  brother 
John  concerning  his  congregation  in  New  Jersey, 
and  the  interests  of  religion  among  the  Indians" 

This  scene  occurs  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
villages  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  and  in 
the  dwelling  of  one  of  the  greatest  metaphysicians 
and  divines  of  that  or  any  other  age.  The  whole 
family  is  gathered.  The  grave  father  and  mother 
are  there.  The  heart-stricken  Jerusha,  almost 
afraid  to  give  vent  to  her  sorrow,  stands  at  his 
pillow.  The  little  children  of  the  household,  to 
whom  Brainerd  was  dear,  are  struggling  between 
the  weight  of  drowsiness  and  the  wakeful  awe  of 
approaching  death.  A  neighboring  minister  has 
kindly  come  in  to  relieve  the  hour  of  agony. 

David  feels  the  ice-chill  of  death  stealing  over 
him,  and  knows  that  he  has  but  an  hour  or  two  to 
live.  How  does  he  employ  this  hour?  In  selfish 
complaints?  He  utters  none.  In  pathetic  and 
repetitious  leave-takings?  He  had  done  this  al- 
ready. In  messages  of  love  to  friends?  They 
needed  no  assurances  of  his  affection.  In  dread 


S36  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

apprehensions  of  an  opening  eternity?  He  felt 
no  fear.  Amid  his  wasting  and  dying  agonies, 
his  mind  is  with  his  poor  Indians  in  New  Jersey. 
Here  was  a  love  literally  "stronger  than  death." 

These  brothers,  holding  such  discourse  at  such  an 
hour,  in  such  circumstances,  and  in  such  a  circle, 
would  be  central  figures  to  stand  out  sublimely 
and  honorably  on  any  painting,  even  though  an 
angel's  hand  held  the  pencil.  It  was  no  doubt 
limned  on  memories  in  earth  and  in  heaven,  in 
colors  which  eternity  will  never  efface. 

At  six  o'clock,  Tuesday  morning,  October  9, 
1747,  the  curtain  fell.  David  Brainerd  entered 
into  that  holy  temple  in  whose  vestibule  he  had 
so  submissively  waited.  His  body  rests  in  the 
old  graveyard  at  Northampton,  marked  by  a  plain 
monumental  slab.  A  well-worn  pathway  to  his 
grave  shows  it  to  be  the  shrine  of  many  a  pious 
pilgrimage.  Some  years  since,  during  a  session 
of  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  a 
long  procession  was  formed,  and  went  up  to  his 
monument.  Rev.  Justin  Edwards,  D.D.,  delivered 
an  appropriate  address. 

Jerusha  Edwards  survived  Brainerd  but  six 
months.  "They  were  lovely"  and  loving  "in  their 
lives,  and  in  death  not  divided."* 

It  is  grateful  to  think  that  David  Brainerd  sleeps, 
awaiting  the  last  trumpet,  in  a  most  beautiful  neigh- 
borhood, on  the  banks  of  the  noble  river  by  which 

*  Brainerd  Genealogy,  p.  283. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  137 

he  was  born,  and  in  the  bosom  of  the  old  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts,  where  the  mission- 
ary heart  beats  warmest,  and  where,  by  a  diffused 
religious  intelligence  and  sympathy,  all  are  pre- 
pared to  appreciate  the  early  missionary  martyr. 
Massachusetts  is  willing  and  worthy  to  cherish 
Brainerd's  ashes,  and  Brainerd  was  worthy  to  die 
and  be  buried  in  the  State  where  the  great  Ame- 
rican Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  to  have  its 
origin  and  expansion. 


138  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 


CHAPTER  XL 

JOHN  BRAINERD'S  LABORS  AFTER  THE  DEATH  OF  DAVID — HIS  APPOINT- 
MENT— HIS  ORDINATION — HIS  REPORT  TO  THE  SCOTCH  SOCIETY — HIS 
COMPANIONS  IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1747-48 — REV.  ELIHD  SPENCER,  D.D. — 
FIRST  CONCERT  OF  PRAYER. 

TTITHERTO  John  Brainerd  has  been  but  a  satel- 
-  lite  in  the  orbit  of  his  more  eminent  brother. 
Now  we  must  regard  him  as  the  principal  in  the 
missionary  work.  His  trial  in  the  loss  of  his  bro- 
ther was  severe.  He  reciprocated  David's  intense 
affection,  and  cherished  profound  reverence  for  his 
character  and  admiration  of  his  talents.  John  had 
lost  his  companion,  mentor,  and  model,  and  turned 
with  a  heavy  heart  from  Northampton  to  seek  his 
forest  home.  He  had  until  now  regarded  himself 
only  as  a  substitute  or  locum  tenens.  for  David. 
He  was  employed  as  such  by  the  "  American  Cor- 
respondents," having  had  no  regular  appointment 
from  the  Society  in  Scotland,  which  had  employed 
and  paid  his  brother.  Nor  had  he  been  ordained. 
He  seems  at  once  to  have  returned  from  Northamp- 
ton to  his  work  at  Cranberry ;  but  we  have  no  de- 
tails of  his  labors  from  October,  1747,  to  February, 
1748. 

He  says. — 

"In  February,  1748,  I  was  ordained,  and  soon  after 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  139 

had   the   Society's   commission  sent  me  from  Scotland, 
and  continued  in  their  service  several  years." 

By  the  kindness  of  my  friend,  the  late  Hugh 
Elliott,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  of  the  old  firm  of  Grigg 
&  Elliott,  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  from  Edin- 
burgh the  manuscript  records  of  the  "  Society  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge"  They  make 
the  following  minute  of  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
John  Brainerd  in  place  of  his  brother.  These 
manuscript  records  have  never  before  been  pub- 
lished : — 

Extract  from  Minutes  of  date  Edinburgh,  November  5,  1747. 

"  Received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pemberton,  Preses  of  the 
Correspondents  at  New  York,  dated  the  2ist  day  of  July 
thereafter,  bearing  testimony  that  the  converted  Indians 
evidence  the  sincerity  of  their  change  by  a  conversation 
becoming  the  gospel,  and  their  numbers  are  lately  in- 
creased by  considerable  additions  from  several  places,  who 
all  live  together  in  a  regular  society.  That  an  English 
schoolmaster  is  maintained  amongst  them  by  private  con- 
tributions in  these  parts,  and  many  of  their  children  make 
great  progress  in  reading  and  learning  the  Catechism. 
That  Mr.  Brainerd  has  been  confined  by  sickness  for 
a  long  time,  and  is  yet  in  a  low  and  dangerous  state  of 
health,  occasioned  by  his  excessive  fatigues  and  travels 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  mission ;  but,  lest  the  Indian 
service  should  suffer,  he  has  procured  his  brother,  Mr. 
John  Brainerd  (a  pious  and  ingenious  youth,  a  candidate 
for  the  ministry),  to  reside  among  the  Indians,  who  meets 
with  great  acceptance  among  them.  Mr.  David  Brainerd 
sends  word  that  he  has  materials  for  a  large  journal,  but 


140  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 

the  state  of  his  health  prevented  his  being  able  to  meth- 
odize and  transcribe  it.  Mr.  Pemberton  transmits  hither 
a  letter,  dated  23d  of  June  last,  from  the  said  Mr.  John 
ttrainerd,  containing  an  account  of  the  situation  of  affairs 
among  the  Indians.  That  in  the  Indian  town  in  New 
Jersey,  called  Bethel,  there  are  one  hundred  and  sixty 
persons,  old  and  young,  inhabitants  thereof;  among  these 
are  thirty-seven  who  have  been  admitted  to  the  Sacra- 
ments of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  appear  to 
have  experienced  a  work  of  saving  grace  in  their  hearts ; 
and  several  others  are  wisely  religious  and  proper  candi- 
dates for  these  gospel  ordinances.  That  in  the  school 
are  fifty-three  children,  who  learn  and  read  the  Testa- 
ment and  repeat  the  Shorter  Catechism." 

Extract  from  Minutes  of  date  Edinburgh,  id  "June,  1748. 

"The  Committee  reported  that  there  are  lately  come 
to  hand  letters  from  the  Correspondents  in  New  York. 
That  the  Rev.  David  Brainerd,  the  other  missionary 
minister  among  the  Indians,  died  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber last,  very  much  regretted,  and  that  a  printed  copy 
of  the  funeral  sermon  preached  on  that  occasion  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Edwards  is  also  transmitted  hither.  That 
the  said  Correspondents  had  ordained  Mr.  John  Brain- 
erd, brother  to  the  said  Mr.  David,  to  the  office  of  the 
holy  ministry  among  the  Indians;  and  they  transmit 
hither  a  letter  from  him,  containing  a  brief  account  of 
his  diligence  and  success  in  his  mission  since  the  death 
of  his  said  brother.  The  Correspondents  further  men- 
tion that  the  school  under  his  inspection  flourishes  ex- 
ceedingly, though  it  has  no  settled  fund  for  its  support 
other  than  the  contributions  of  some  charitable  persons 
and  sometimes  a  public  collection  at  the  church-doors  in 
and  about  New  York;  and  the  Committee  is  of  opinion 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  141 

that  this  General  Meeting  do  order  a  commission  to  the 
said  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  to  supply  as  missionary  minister 
in  room  of  his  deceased  brother,  and  do  report  that  a 
certain  gentleman  in  England  had  taken  the  trouble  to 
make  ah  abridgment  of  the  large  journals  of  the  said 
Mr.  David  Brainerd,  now  deceased,  which  abridgment  is 
now  publishing  at"  London,  with  a  preface  by  the  Rev. 
Doctor  Philip  Doddridge.  The  Committee  had  directed 
Mr.  Anderson  to  purchase  one  hundred  copies  thereof, 
to  be  sent  hither  for  the  use  of  the  members  of  this  So- 
ciety, and  authorized  him  to  purchase  as  many  more 
copies  as  shall  be  found  proper  to  be  distributed  among 
the  correspondent  members  and  other  charitably  disposed 
persons  at  London;  and  it  appearing  by  the  transcript 
of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pemberton,  at  New  York,  that  a 
charter  is  granted  for  the  erection  of  a  college  or  semi- 
nary for  learning  in  that  province  [College  of  New  Jer- 
sey], where  some  encouragement  is  now  wanting  for 
purchasing  books,  the  Committee  have  recommended  to 
members  and  other  well-disposed  persons  to  contribute 
for  this  purpose,  and  have  ordered  that  a  copy  of  the 
Society's  letter,  dated  23d  February,  1747,  bearing  their 
agreement  to  have  one  young  man  educated  at  the  So- 
ciety's expense,  and  to  be  sent  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  with 
a  letter  acquainting  him  that  this  Society  will  heartily 
concur  to  encourage  this  new-erected  seminary  of  learn- 
ing for  educating  of  youth,  and  desiring  to  know  what 
books  they  have  already  got,  and  what  kind  are  mostly 
wanted.  The  General  Meeting  having  heard  the  said 
report,  and  considered  the  several  particulars  above  set 
forth,  approved  of  their  Committee's  opinion  thereupon, 
and  resolved  accordingly  that  Mr.  John  Brainerd  have 
(ommission  to  be  one  of  the  Society's  missionary-ministers  in 

place  of  the  aforesaid  Mr.  David  Brainerd,  deceased,  and 

18 


i4z  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

that  all  encouragement  competent  be  granted  by  this  So- 
ciety to  the  aforesaid  College  and  Seminary  of  Learning 
in  New  Jersey." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  David  Bramerd  had 
made  arrangements  in  Boston  for  the  support  of 
two  missionaries  among  the  Six  Nations*  of  In- 
dians in  Western  New  York.  He  had  selected 
two  young  men  for  the  work, — Rev.  Elihu  Spen- 
cer, of  Haddam,  and  Rev.  Job  Strong,  of  North- 
ampton. Of  these  young  men,  President  Edwards 
says : — 

*  These  Six  Nations  were  called  Iroquois,  embracing  the  Mohawks, 
the  Oneidas,  the  Onondagas,  the  Cayugas,  the  Senecas,  and  the  Tus- 
caroras.  The  Mohawks  were  northeasterly  on  the  Mohawk  River, 
below  the  present  Little  Falls,  number  420.  The  Oneidas  came  next, 
extending  over  the  region  of  Utica  and  Rome,  number  600.  Next  to 
the  Oneidas,  and  forty  miles  distant  westerly,  were  the  Onondagas, 
numbering  800.  The  Cayugas,  amounting  to  one  thousand  and  forty, 
were  forty  miles  southwest  of  the  Onondagas.  The  Senecas,  forty 
miles  northwest  of  the  Cayugas,  were  in  number  4000.  The  Tusca- 
roras  numbered  1000. — (Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  iv. 
p.  1093.)  This  was  in  the  year  1771.  In  1796  the  numbers  had 
fallen:  the  Mohawks  to  300 ;  the  Oneidas,  628 ;  Cayugas,  500;  Onon- 
dagas, 450;  Senecas,  1780;  Tuscaroras,  400.  At  present  only  a  few 
hundreds  of  the  Senecas  and  Tuscaroras  remain  in  New  York,  pre- 
served by  missionary  care. 

The  Mohawks  and  Cayugas,  having  taken  part  with  the  British, 
mostly  migrated  to  Canada,  where  a  few  fragments  remain.  Some 
of  the  others  have  remnants  in  the  far  West,  under  government  pro- 
tection. But  it  is  sad  to  think  that  the  great  Iroquois  race,  the 
noblest  of  Indian  blood  in  the  land,  inhabiting  the  beautiful  and 
fertile  district  of  Western  New  York,  with  its  charming  lakes  and 
streams,  have  perished  from  the  earth.  They  protected  the  early 
English  from  French  aggression,  and  aided  to  give  this  land  to  Pro- 
testant Christianity,  but  could  not  protect  themselves  from  the  des«- 
tiny  of  the  red  man.  Had  the  early  missionaries  been  seconded  pro- 
porly,  the  case  might  have  been  different. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  143 

"They  were,  undoubtedly,  well-qualified  persons,  of 
good  abilities  and  learning,  and  pious  dispositions.  The 
Commissioners  did  not  think  proper  to  send  them  imme- 
diately to  the  Six  Nations;  but  ordered  them  to  cgo  and 
live  during  the  winter  [1747-48]  with  Mr.  John  Brain- 
erd,  in  New  Jersey,  among  the  Christian  Indians ;  there 
to  follow  their  studies,  and  get  acquainted  with  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  Indians.'  "* 

This  arrangement  was  carried  out,  greatly,  we 
have  no  doubt,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 
It  must  have  cheered  the  heart  of  John  Brainerd 
to  welcome  to  his  log  cabin,  in  Bethel,  two  young 
men  of  his  own  age,  early  friends,  of  classic  edu- 
cation and  of  congenial  spirit  and  aims.  We  can 
readily  imagine  them  by  their  evening  fire,  keeping 
"bachelor's  hall,"  holding  frequent  counsel  as  to 
the  missionary  work,  praying  together,  laboring  to- 
gether among  the  Indians,  settling  many  a  knotty 
point  in  theology  and  science,  calling  up  many  a 
reminiscence  of  college-life  and  their  New-England 
homes,  and  relieving  the  burdens  of  serious  toil  by 
noting  the  amusing  peculiarities  of  their  Indian 
neighbors  and  by  many  a  feat  of  gymnastic  exer- 
cise. This  was  natural  in  young  men  thus  sepa- 
rated from  the  world ;  and  we  have  no  doubt  they 
spent  many  a  happy  hour  in  their  smoky  cabin. 

But  their  letters  to  distant  friends  say  nothing 
of  all  this.  With  them  duty,  not  pleasure,  was 
life.  We  have  one  of  these  letters,  which  throws 

*  Life  of  President  Edwards,  p.  29. 


i44  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

light  on  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  Indian  con- 
gregation and  the  employment  of  their  teachers. 
This  letter  is  as  follows: — 

"BETHEL,  NEW  JERSEY,  Jan.  14,  1748. 

"HONORED  AND  DEAR  PARENTS: — 

"After  a  long  and  uncomfortable  journey,  by  reason 
of  bad  weather,  I  arrived  at  Mr.  Brainerd's  the  sixth  in- 
stant, where  I  design  to  stay  this  winter;  and  as  yet, 
upon  many  accounts,  am  well  satisfied  with  my  coming 
hither.  The  state  and  circumstances  of  the  Indians, 
spiritual  and  temporal,  much  exceed  what  I  expected. 
Notwithstanding  my  expectations  were  very  much  raised 
from  Mr.  David  Brainerd's  journal,  and  from  particular 
information  from  him,  yet  I  must  confess  that,  in  many 
respects,  they  are  not  equal  to  that  which  now  appears 
to  me  to  be  true  concerning  the  glorious  work  of  Divine 
Grace  among  the  Indians. 

"  Religious  conversation  seems  to  be  very  pleasing  and 
delightful  to  many,  and  especially  that  which  relates  to 
the  action  of  the  heart.  And  many  here  do  not  seem  to 
be  real  Christians  only,  but  growing  Christians  also, — as 
well  in  doctrinal  as  in  experimental  knowledge.  Beside 
my  conversation  with  particular  persons,  I  have  had  op- 
portunity to  attend  upon  one  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  cate- 
chetical lectures,  where  I  was  surprised  at  their  readiness 
in  answering  questions  to  which  they  had  not  been  used ; 
although  Mr.  Brainerd  complained  much  of  their  uncom- 
mon deficiency.  It  is  surprising  to  see  this  people  who, 
not  long  since,  were  led  captive  by  Satan  at  his  will,  and 
living  in  the  practice  of  all  manner  of  abominations,  with- 
out the  least  sense  even  of  moral  honesty,  yet  now  living 
soberly  and  regularly,  and  not  seeking  every  man  his  own, 
but  every  man,  in  some  sense,  his  neighbor's  good ;  and 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  145 

to  see  those  who,  but  a  little  while  past,  knew  nothing 
of  the  true  God,  now  worshipping  him  in  a  solemn  and 
devout  manner,  not  only  in  public,  but  in  their  families 
and  in  secret, — which  is  manifestly  the  case,  it  being  a 
difficult  thing  to  walk  into  the  woods  in  the  morning 
without  disturbing  persons  with  secret  devotions.  It 
seems  wonderful  that  this  should  be  the  case  not  only 
with  adult  persons,  but  with  children  also.  It  is  observ- 
able here,  that  many  children  (if  not  the  children  in  gene- 
ral) retire  into  secret  places  to  pray.  And,  as  far  as  at 
present  I  can  judge,  this  is  not  the  effect  of  custom  and 
fashion,  but  of  real  seriousness  and  thoughtfulness  about 
their  souls. 

"  I  have  frequently  gone  into  the  school,  and  have 
spent  considerable  time  there  amongst  the  children,  and 
have  been  surprised  to  see  not  only  their  diligent  atten- 
tion upon  the  business  of  the  school,  but  also  the  pro- 
ficiency they  have  made  in  it,  in  reading  and  writing,  and 
in  their  catechisms  of  divers  sorts.  It  seems  to  be  as 
pleasing  and  as  natural  to  these  children  to  have  books 
in  their  hands  as  it  does  for  many  others  to  be  at  play. 
I  have  gone  into  a  house  where  there  has  been  a  number 
of  children  accidentally  gathered  together,  and  observed 
that  every  one  had  his  book  in  his  hand  and  was  dili- 
gently studying  it.  About  thirty  of  these  children  can 
answer  all  the  questions  in  the  Assembly's  Catechism, 
and  the  greater  part  of  them  with  the  proofs  to  the  fourth 
commandment.  I  wish  there  were  many  such  schools : 
I  confess  that  I  never  was  acquainted  with  such  an  one, 
in  many  respects.  Oh  that  what  God  has  done  here 
may  prove  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  far  more  glorious  and 
extensive  work  of  grace  among  the  heathen  f 

"  I  am  your  obedient  and  dutiful  son, 

"Jos  STRONG." 

13* 


146  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

The  gravity  and  spiritual  discrimination  of  this 
letter  mark  the  writer  as  one  of  kindred  spirit  to 
the  Brainerds. 

President  Edwards  had  warmly  commended 
Brainerd  and  his  two  friends  to  Governor  Bel- 
cher, of  New  Jersey.  Governor  Belcher  says  in 
response,  in  a  letter  dated  at  Burlington  (then  the 
capital),  February  5,  1748: — * 

"  You  will  be  sure,  sir,  of  me  as  a  friend  and  father  to 
the  missionaries  this  way,  and  all  my  might  and  encou- 
ragement for  the  spreading  the  everlasting  gospel  of  God 
our  Saviour  in  all  parts  and  places  where  God  shall  honor 
me  with  any  power  and  influence. 

"As  to  myself,  sir,  it  is  impossible  to  express  the  warm 
sentiments  of  my  heart  for  the  mercies  without  number 
with  which  I  have  been  loaded  by  the  God  who  has  fed 
me  all  my  life  long  to  this  day." 

These  would  be  noble  sentiments  from  the  lips 
of  any  man.  From  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
commonwealth  they  are  the  more  beautiful  as  they 
are  eminently  rare.  The  friendship  and  patronage 
of  such  a  man  would  be  most  valuable  to  young 
Brainerd,  and  fully  appreciated.f 

*  Edwards'  Life,  p.  266. 

f  No  life  of  John  Brainerd  would  be  perfect  that  did  not  pay  a 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  Governor  Belcher. 

He  was  a  native  of  New  England,  and  inherited  an  ample  fortune, 
by  which  he  received  the  advantages  of  the  best  education  and  of 
foreign  travel.  For  a  time  he  was  the  Royal  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. When  appointed  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  in  1747,  he  was 
advanced  in  years  and  infirm  in  health. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  147 

It  had  been  the  purpose  of  the  "Correspond- 
ents" that,  after  spending  the  winter  at  Bethel, 
Messrs.  Strong  and  Spencer  should  make  an  ex- 
cursion with  Brainerd  to  the  Indians  on  the  Sus- 
quehanna  River;  but,  as  the  Susquehanna  tribes 
were  subject  to  the  Six  Nations,  they  dared  not 
receive  the  missionaries  without  the  consent  of 
these  nations.  Governor  Belcher  (we  shall  often 
mention  the  good  man's  name)  wrote  President 
Edwards  that  in  this  visit  to  the  Susquehanna  the 
young  men  "should  have  all  his  assistance  and 
encouragement,  by  letters  to  the  king's  governors 
[in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York]  and  his  letters 
to  the  Sachem  of  those  tribes." 

The  journey,  for  the  cause  mentioned,  failed. 
Messrs.  Strong  and  Spencer  in  the  spring,  instead 
of  going  to  the  Susquehanna,  returned  to  New 
England,  and  spent  the  summer  in  Northampton 
in  study  with  President  Edwards.  Mr.  Strong's 
health  soon  after  so  failed,  that  he  renounced  the 
missionary  work  and  settled  in  the  ministry  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  June,  1749.  President  Ed- 
wards preached  his  ordination  sermon. 


Not  distinguished  for  great  intellect,  and  perhaps  rather  self-com- 
placent and  fond  of  show,  pomp,  and  ceremony  even  for  that  age, 
he  still  had  a  large,  genial,  pious  heart,  which  made  him  a  friend  of 
good  men  and  of  every  good  work.  He  was  a  firm  champion  of 
gospel  truth  in  the  most  orthodox  forms,  and  the  hnter  of  all  error 
and  iniquity.  He  enlarged  and  confirmed  the  charter  of  Princeton 
College,  and  until  his  death  was  a  fast  friend  of  the  institution. 
President  Burr  pronounced  an  earnest,  elaborate,  and  beautiful  eu- 
logy at  his  death,  to  which  we  refer  the  reader. 


148  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

Mr.  Elihu  Spencer,  Brainerd's  other  companion, 
was  ordained  by  a  Council  in  Boston,  September, 
1748,  and  sent  to  establish  a  mission  among  the 
Six  Nations,  "at  a  place  called  by  the  Indians 
Onohanquanga,  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  west  of  Albany,"  in  the  Oneida  tribe.  His 
mission  was  a  failure,  but  by  no  fault  of  his  own. 
His  interpreter  was  the  wife  of  a  fanatic  English- 
man who  opposed  Spencer's  views,  and  the  woman 
herself  was  too  indolent  and  obstinate  to  aid  him 
in  conversing  with  the  Indians.  After  six  months 
Spencer  came  away,  in  the  spring  of  1749,  discou- 
raged ;  and  an  enterprise  which  had  commanded  the 
dying  regards  of  David  Brainerd,  and  the  charity 
of  the  purest  and  best  men  of  the  age,  was  relin- 
quished. It  is  a  specimen  of  the  difficulties  met 
in  the  early  Indian  missions. 

Rev.  Elihu  Spencer,  probably  attracted  by  the 
vicinity  of  Brainerd  and  his  own  acquaintances  in 
New  Jersey,  came  to  Elizabeth  town,  and  was  set- 
tled there  as  the  successor  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  February  7,  1750,  in  his  twenty-ninth 
year.* 


*  As  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  was  intimately  associated  with  John 
Brainerd  during  his  life,  and  his  intimate  friend,  a  brief  sketch  of  him 
seems  appropriate  in  the  outset.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Spencer, 
of  Haddam,  and  second  cousin  to  David  and  John  Brainerd.  As 
natives  of  the  seme  town,  they  were  playmates  in  childhood.  He 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1746,  a  classmate  of  John  Brainerd. 
He  was  pastor  at  Elizabethtown  six  years.  He  held  the  office  of 
Trustee  of  Princeton  College  from  1752  to  his  death,  in  1784.  In 
1756  he  removed  from  Elizabethtown  to  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  and  occupied 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  149 

John  Brainerd's  general  fidelity  and  success  in 
his  first  labors  are  vouched  by  President  Edwards. 
Writing  in  1749,  he  speaks  of  John's  succeeding 
his  brother  "in  a  like  spirit,  and  under  whose  pru- 
dent and  faithful  care  the  congregation  had  flou- 
rished and  been  happy,  and  probably  could  not 
have  been  so  well  provided  for  otherwise."  This 
is  good  testimony,  and  from  a  competent  source. 

July  26,  1746,  twelve  clergymen  of  Scotland  in 
a  memorial  proposed  a  United  Concert  of  Prayer 
to  the  Churches  of  America.  They  addressed  their 
letter  to  President  Edwards,  who  eagerly  caught 

a  church  there  two  years.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  army  during 
the  French  War.  He  then  came  back  to  New  Jersey,  and  labored 
some  time  in  the  congregations  of  Shrewsbury,  Middletown  Point, 
Shark  River,  and  Amboy.  In  1764  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  sent  him,  with  the  Rev.  Alexander  McWhorter,  on  a 
mission  to  North  Carolina.  Soon  after  his  return  he  settled  at  St. 
George's,  Delaware,  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  transferred 
to  New  York.  He  remained  five  years,  and  then  accepted  a  call  to 
Trenton.  In  the  Revolutionary  struggle  he  took  an  active  part. 
Congress  sent  him  to  conciliate  the  wavering  in  North  Carolina;  and 
he  performed  his  extraordinary  mission.  The  Tories  hated  him,  and 
once  burnt  a  part  of  his  library.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 
conferred  on  him  the  title  of  D.D.  in  1782.  He  seems  to  have  de- 
served it.  He  peaceably  ended  life  at  Trenton,  December  27,  1784, 
in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  epitaph  in  the  grounds  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  says:  "  He  possessed  fine  genius,  great 
vivacity,  and  eminent,  active  piety."  If  not  greatly  studious  and 
scholarly,  he  was,  doubtless,  a  man  of  great  energy  and  executive 
power.  Among  his  grandchildren  were  reckoned  the  wife  of  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  the  late  John  and 
Thomas  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia.  Our  readers  will  see  that  the 
young  men  who  sat  by  the  log-cabin  fire  in  Cranberry,  in  the  winter 
of  1747-48,  "have  left  deep  footprints  on  the  sands  of  time."  We 
shall  often  meet  Elihu  Spencer  in  this  memoir,  and  our  readers  will 
now  know  him. 


148  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

Mr.  Elihu  Spencer,  Brainerd's  other  companion, 
was  ordained  by  a  Council  in  Boston,  September, 
1748,  and  sent  to  establish  a  mission  among  the 
Six  Nations,  "at  a  place  called  by  the  Indians 
Onohanquanga,  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  west  of  Albany,"  in  the  Oneida  tribe.  His 
mission  was  a  failure,  but  by  no  fault  of  his  own. 
His  interpreter  was  the  wife  of  a  fanatic  English- 
man who  opposed  Spencer's  views,  and  the  woman 
herself  was  too  indolent  and  obstinate  to  aid  him 
in  conversing  with  the  Indians.  After  six  months 
Spencer  came  away,  in  the  spring  of  1749,  discou- 
raged ;  and  an  enterprise  which  had  commanded  the 
dying  regards  of  David  Brainerd,  and  the  charity 
of  the  purest  and  best  men  of  the  age,  was  relin- 
quished. It  is  a  specimen  of  the  difficulties  met 
in  the  early  Indian  missions. 

Rev.  Elihu  Spencer,  probably  attracted  by  the 
vicinity  of  Brainerd  and  his  own  acquaintances  in 
New  Jersey,  came  to  Elizabethtown,  and  was  set- 
tled there  as  the  successor  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  February  7,  1750,  in  his  twenty-ninth 
year.* 


*  As  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  was  intimately  associated  with  John 
Brainerd  during  his  life,  and  his  intimate  friend,  a  brief  sketch  of  him 
seems  appropriate  in  the  outset.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Spencer, 
of  Haddam,  and  second  cousin  to  David  and  John  Brainerd.  As 
natives  of  the  same  town,  they  were  playmates  in  childhood.  He 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1746,  a  classmate  of  John  Brainerd. 
He  was  pastor  at  Elizabethtown  six  years.  He  held  the  office  of 
Trustee  of  Princeton  College  from  1752  to  his  death,  in  1784.  In 
17^6  he  removed  from  Elizabethtown  to  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  and  occupied 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  149 

John  Brainerd's  general  fidelity  and  success  in 
his  first  labors  are  vouched  by  President  Edwards. 
Writing  in  1749,  he  speaks  of  John's  succeeding 
his  brother  "in  a  like  spirit,  and  under  whose  pru- 
dent and  faithful  care  the  congregation  had  flou- 
rished and  been  happy,  and  probably  could  not 
have  been  so  well  provided  for  otherwise."  This 
is  good  testimony,  and  from  a  competent  source. 

July  26,  1746,  twelve  clergymen  of  Scotland  in 
a  memorial  proposed  a  United  Concert  of  Prayer 
to  the  Churches  of  America.  They  addressed  their 
letter  to  President  Edwards,  who  eagerly  caught 

a  church  there  two  years.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  army  during 
the  French  War.  He  then  came  back  to  New  Jersey,  and  labored 
some  time  in  the  congregations  of  Shrewsbury,  Middletown  Point, 
Shark  River,  and  Amboy.  In  1764  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  sent  him,  with  the  Rev.  Alexander  McWhorter,  on  a 
mission  to  North  Carolina.  Soon  after  his  return  he  settled  at  St. 
George's,  Delaware,  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  transferred 
to  New  York.  He  remained  five  years,  and  then  accepted  a  call  to 
Trenton.  In  the  Revolutionary  struggle  he  took  an  active  part. 
Congress  sent  him  to  conciliate  the  wavering  in  North  Carolina;  and 
he  performed  his  extraordinary  mission.  The  Tories  hated  him,  and 
once  burnt  a  part  of  his  library.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 
conferred  on  him  the  title  of  D.D.  in  1782.  He  seerns  to  have  de- 
served it.  He  peaceably  ended  life  at  Trenton,  December  27,  1784, 
in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  epitaph  in  the  grounds  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  says:  "He  possessed  fine  genius,  great 
vivacity,  and  eminent,  active  piety."  If  not  greatly  studious  and 
scholarly,  he  was,  doubtless,  a  man  of  great  energy  and  executive 
power.  Among  his  grandchildren  were  reckoned  the  wife  of  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  the  late  John  and 
Thomas  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia.  Our  readers  will  see  that  the 
young  men  who  sat  by  the  log-cabin  fire  in  Cranberry,  in  the  winter 
of  1747-48,  "have  left  deep  footprints  on  the  sands  of  time."  We 
shall  often  meet  Elihu  Spencer  in  this  memoir,  and  our  readers  will 
now  know  him. 


150  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

the  idea,  and  published  an  Appeal  with  this  long 
title,  viz. : — 

"An  Humble  Attempt  to  promote  Explicit  Agreement 
and  Visible  Union  among  God's  People  in  Extraordinary 
Prayer  for  the  Revival  or  Religion  and  the  Advancement 
of  Christ's  Kingdom  on  Earth,  pursuant  to  Scripture  Pro- 
mises and  Prophecies  concerning  the  Last  Time." 

The  work  was  as  elaborate  as  the  title ;  and  it 
doubtless  laid  the  foundation  for  that  Monthly 
Concert  of  Prayer  which  is  now  observed  over 
the  earth.  Edwards  proposed  a  Quarterly  Con- 
cert, and  he  urged  it  with  great  success  not  only 
among  the  New  England  churches,  but  the  Indian 
missions.  The  Brainerds  entered  heartily  into  its 
spirit. 

David  expressed  "his  wonder  that  there  was  no 
more  forwardness  in  promoting  united  extraordi- 
nary prayer  according  to  the  Scotch  proposal," 
and  sent  his  dying  advice  to  his  own  congregation 
that  "they  should  practise  that  proposal."* 

How  well  they  took  this  advice,  and  how  heartily 
John  Brainerd  entered  into  the  matter,  we  learn 
from  President  Edwards'  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Mc- 
Culloch,  of  Scotland  under  date  of  May  23,  1779. 
He  says: — 

"I  sent  another  copy  into  New  Jersey,  to  Mr.  John 
Brainerd,  missionary  to  the  Indians  there,  with  a  desire 
that  he  would  communicate  it  to  others,  as  he  thought 
would  be  most  serviceable. 

*  Braincrrl's  Life,  p.  400. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4INERD.  151 

"He  writes  in  answer,  March  4,  1748,  as  follows: — 
1 1  received  yours  of  January  12  on  Sabbath  morning, 
February  5 ;  and  desire  to  acknowledge  your  kindness 
with  much  thankfulness  and  gratitude.  It  was  a  great 
resuscitant  as  well  as  encouragement  to  me,  and,  I 
trust,  has  been  so  to  many  others  in  these  parts,  who 
are  concerned  for  the  prosperity  of  Zion.  The  next 
Thursday  after  (as  perhaps,  sir,  you  may  remember)  was 
the  quarterly  day  appointed  for  extraordinary  prayer ; 
upon  which  I  called  my  people  together,  and  gave  in- 
formation of  the  most  notable  things  contained  in  your 
letter.  And  since  I  have  endeavored  to  communicate 
the  same  to  several  of  my  neighboring  ministers  and 
sundry  private  Christians,  as  I  had  opportunity.  I  have 
also  thought  it  my  duty  to  send  an  extract,  or  rather 
a  copy  of  it,  to  Governor  Belcher.  I  have  likewise 
(for  want  of  time  to  transcribe)  sent  the  original  to  Phi- 
ladelphia by  a  careful  hand,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gilbert 
Tennent  might  have  the  perusal  of  it ;  where  a  copy 
was  taken,  and  the  original  safely  returned  to  me  again. 
I  cannot  but  hope  that  this  letter,  as  it  contains  many 
things  wherein  the  power  and  goodness  of  God  do  ap- 
pear in  a  most  conspicuous  manner,  will  be  greatly  ser- 
viceable in  stirring  up  the  people  of  God  in  these  parts, 
and  encouraging  their  hearts  to  seek  his  face  and  favor, 
and  to  cry  mightily  to  him  for  the  further  outpouring 
of  a  gracious  Spirit  upon  his  Church  in  the  world. 
For  my  part,  I  think  the  remarkable  things  which  your 
letter  contains  might  be  sufficient  to  put  new  life  into 
any  one  who  is  not  past  feeling,  and  as  a  means  to  ex- 
cite a  spirit  of  prayer  and  praise  in  all  those  who  are  not 
buried  in  ignorance  or  under  the  power  of  a  lethargic 
stupor.  And  it  is  looked  upon  by  those  whom  I  have 
had  an  opportunity  to  converse  with,  whether  ministers 


ij2  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

or  private  Christians,  that  what  God  has  done  is  matter 
of  great  thankfulness  and  praise,  and  might  well  en- 
courage his  people  to  lift  up  the  hand  of  prayer,  and  be 
instant  therein.'  ' 

The  little  Indian  church  of  Cranberry  gathered 
to  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  presents  a  novel 
spectacle. 

Writing  under  the  same  date  to  Mr.  Robe,  of 
Scotland,  President  Edwards  says : — 

"We  have  had  accounts  from  time  to  time  of  religion 
being  in  a  flourishing  state  in  the  Indian  congregation  of 
New  Jersey,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  John  Brainerd ;  of 
the  congregation's  increasing  by  the  access  of  Indians 
from  distant  parts ;  of  a  work  of  awakening  carried  on 
among  the  unconverted,  and  additions  made  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  hopefully  converted ;  and  the  Christian  beha- 
vior of  professors  there.  Mr.  Brainerd  was  at  my  house 
a  little  while  ago,  and  represented  this  to  be  the  present 
state  of  things  in  that  congregation." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD,  153 


CHAPTER  XII. 

JOHN  BRAINERD'S  INDIANS  DISTURBED  AT  BETHEL — CHARACTER  OF 
CHIEF-JUSTICE  K.  II.  MOURIS — HIS  TKAGIC  DEATH — THE  INDIANS 
LOSE  THEIR  LANDS. 

JOHN'  BRAINERD  has  now  been  nearly  two 

years  at  his  work,  and  with  eminent  success. 

David,  his  brother,  was  a  hard  man  to  equal ;   but 

it  seems  that  John  approximated  his  predecessor 

in  fidelity  and  usefulness. 

But  dark  clouds  began  to  lower  over  the  path- 
way of  the  young  missionary.  We  have  seen  with 
what  sacrifices  and  with  what  hopes  the  poor  In- 
dians had  been  removed  from  Crossweeksung  to 
Cranberry.  David  had  paid  their  debts.  They 
supposed  the  land  was  their  own.  They  had 
made  their  clearings,  built  their  cabins,  erected 
their  church  and  school-house,  and  their  pastor 
had,  with  his  own  hands,  aided  in  finishing  the 
rude  parsonage.  They  had  called  the  place  Bethel. 
It  had  been  sanctified  by  Christian  labor,  prayers, 
and  tears.  In  the  desert  of  Indian  paganism  and 
barbarity  it  was  the  first  oasis.  Can  we  believe  that 
any  could  be  found  vile  enough  to  break  up  this 
Christian  community,  to  wring  the  heart  of  this 
young  pastor,  and  to  crush  the  hopes  of  Christians 
abroad  by  exiling  these  Indians  from  their  homes? 


14 


I54  LIFE    OF   7OHN  BR4INERD. 

There  were  men  wicked  enough  to  plan  all  this, 
and  powerful  enough  to  accomplish  it.  We  get 
the  first  intimation  of  the  coming  storm  in  a  letter 
of  President  Edwards  to  Mr.  Erskine,  of  Scotland, 
dated  June  20,  1749.  He  says:- 

"As  to  the  mission  in  New  Jersey,  we  have  from 
time  to  time  had  comfortable  accounts  of  it ;  and  Mr. 
John  Brainerd,  who  has  the  care  of  the  congregation 
of  Christian  Indians  there,  was  about  three  weeks  ago 
at  my  house,  and  informed  me  of  the  increase  of  his 
congregation,  and  of  their  being  added  to  from  time  to 
time  by  the  coming  of  Indians  from  distant  places  and 
settling  in  the  Indian  town  at  Cranberry,  for  the  sake 
of  hearing  the  gospel ;  and  of  something  of  a  work  of 
awakening  being  all  along  carried  on  among  the  Indians 
to  this  day,  and  of  some  of  the  new-comers  being  awa- 
kened, and  of  there  being  instances  from  time  to  time 
of  hopeful  conversions  among  them,  and  of  a  general 
good  and  pious  behavior  of  the  professing  Indians.  But 
he  gave  an  account  also  of  some  trouble  the  Indians 
meet  with  from  some  of  the  white  people,  and  particu- 
larly from  Mr.  Morris,  the  chief  justice  of  the  province, 
a  professed  deist,  who  is  suing  them  for  their  lands  under 
pretext  of  a  will  made  by  their  former  king,  which  was 
undoubtedly  forged.  However,  he  is  a  man  of  such  craft 
and  influence  that  it  is  not  known  how  the  matter  will 
issue."  * 


*  The  opinion  here  expressed  of  Robert  Hunter  Morris,  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  New  Jersey  from  1738  to  1764,  was  doubtless  too  true.  He 
was  the  second  son  of  Lewis  Morris,  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and 
uncle  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  whose  life  has  been  written  by  Sparks. 
In  1749  he  visited  England,  and  by  intrigue  got  himself  appointed 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  retaining  at  the  same  time  his  judgeship 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  155 

This  is  a  song  of  "mercy  and  judgment."  In- 
ternally the  mission  was  blessed,  but  outwardly 
foes  were  plotting  and  combining  for  its  ruin. 

The  Indians  seemed  doomed  to  perish;  and  one 
grand  instrument  of  their  ruin  was  the  spirit  of 
avarice. 

New  Jersey  had  two  classes  of  land  titles:  one 
from  the  original  proprietors,  the  other  from  the 
Indian  occupants.  Up  to  the  time  of  Judge  Mor- 
ris, Indian  titles  were  respected;  but  he  and  his 
associates  having  obtained  from  the  proprietors 
a  title  to  a  considerable  part  of  New  Jersey,  and 

in  New  Jersey.  In  1756  he  resigned  the  Governorship  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  retained  his  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey  success- 
fully, resisting  in  1759  the  claims  of  Nathaniel  Jones,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  the  office  by  the  crown. 

His  aristocratic  connections,  his  great  talents  and  legal  acuteness, 
his  restless  and  generally  successful  ambition,  his  grasping  avarice 
and  utter  moral  unscrupulousness  in  using  his  judicial  influence  for 
his  own  self-emolument,- — all  these,  with  the  absence  of  any  religious 
faith  or  generous  sentiments  of  humanity,  made  him  a  hard  antago- 
nist for  the  Indians  of  Bethel.  He  claimed  their  land  as  his  own 
under  a  dreamy  title,  and  finally  exiled  them  from  their  homes. 

There  is  a  God  in  heaven.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Herod, 
the  wicked  soar  only  to  make  their  fall  more  terribly  and  instruct- 
ively sublime. 

On  the  morning  of  27th  of  January,  17G4,  Morris  left  Morrisiana 
in  fine  health  on  a  visit  to  Shrewsbury,  where  he  had  a  cousin  resid- 
ing, the  wife  of  the  clergyman  of  the  parish.  "  In  the  evening  there 
was  a  dance.  The  chief  justice  made  one  of  the  gay  throng,  and  en- 
tered heartily,  as  was  his  habit,  into  the  festivities  of  the  occasion. 
He  had  led  out  the  parson's  wife,  opened  the  ball,  danced  down  six 
couples,  and  then,  without  a  word,  or  a  groan,  or  a  sigh,  fell  dead 
upon  the  floor  ! 

"What,  then,  were  those  things  that  he  had  provided"  at  the  ex- 
pense of  justice  and  the  Bethel  Indians  ? — Mr.  Smith's  letter.  New 
York  Historical  Society, 


156  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

either  trumping  up  some  Indian  conveyance,  or 
treating  Indian  titles  as  a  nullity,  began  actions 
of  ejectment  against  a  large  number  of  occupants 
resting  securely  on  their  farms.*  This  was  for  a 
time  resisted  by  popular  violence,  which  often  and 
for  a  long  period  protected  justice  at  the  expense 
of  the  technicalities  of  law  and  the  decisions  of 
interested  judges.  But  the  chief  justice,  shelter- 
ing his  designs  under  legal  pretensions,  finally  tri- 
umphed; and,  as  a  consequence,  a  large  number 
of  New  Jersey  farmers,  and  the  Indians  of  Bethel 
among  the  rest,  were  driven  from  the  fields  they 
had  cleared  and  the  houses  they  had  erected.  In 
"Smith's  History  of  New  Jersey,"  now  a  rare  but 
most  instructive  book,  is  a  full  account  of  these 
land  conflicts  and  of  Judge  Morris.  To  that  book 
we  refer  the  reader. 

That  our  readers  may  have  all  we  can  glean  of 
Brainerd's  history  at  this  period,  we  close  this 
chapter  with  another  extract  from  the  archives  of 
the  "Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge" at  Edinburgh.  It  gives  collateral  facts  of 
interest: — 


*  A  large  quantity  of  East  Jersey  lands  under  the  Carteret  title 
had  gotten  into  the  hands  of  Robert  Hunter  Morris  and  James  Alex- 
ander, Esquires,  who  held  important  offices  in  the  province, — the  one 
being  chief  justice,  the  other,  secretary,  and  both  at  times  were  in  the 
Council.  These  gentlemen,  with  other  extensive  proprietors,  during 
the  life  of  Governor  Morris  and  toward  the  close  of  his  administra- 
tion, commenced  actions  of  ejectment,  and  suits  for  the  recovery  of 
quit-rent,  against  many  of  the  settlers. — Gordon's  History  oj  Ne.w 
Jersey,  p.  109. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  157 

Extract  from  Minutes,  Edinburgh,  2$d  March,  1749. 

"The  Committee  reported,  that  by  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Pemberton,  in  name  of  the  Correspondents  in  New  York, 
it  appears  that  the  missionaries  employed  by  this  Society 
among  the  Indians  continue  diligent  in  the  business  of 
their  mission;  that  the  Indians  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Brainerd  are  not  only  incorporated  in  a  church,  but  dwell 
together  in  a  regular  civil  society ;  that  the  school,  which 
is  supported  by  contributions  in  these  parts,  is  greatly  in- 
creased, and  an  additional  allowance  is  made  for  the  en- 
couragement of  one  or  two  well-qualified  young  Indians 
who  assist  in  the  instruction  of  the  rest ;  that  by  the 
charity  of  well-disposed  persons  they  have  got  spinning- 
wheels,  that  Indian  women  may  be  trained  up  to  in- 
dustry and  diligence,  which  was  unknown  until  Chris- 
tianity was  introduced  among  them." 

Extract  from  Minutes,  Edinburgh,  "id  November,  1749. 

"The  Committee  reported,  that  having  received  let- 
ters from  their  Correspondents  at  New  York,  mention- 
ing the  erection  of  a  College  at  New  Jersey  for  the  edu- 
cation of  youth  intended  principally  for  training  up  for 
the  ministry,  the  Committee  had  agreed  for  encourage- 
ment of  such  a  seminary  of  learning  that  a  parcel  of 
good  books  be  purchased,  at  an  expense  not  exceeding 
thirty  pounds  of  the  Society's  funds,  to  be  sent  to  the 
said  new-erected  college,  and  transmitted  to  the  Rev'd 
Mr.  John  McLaurin,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Glasgow, 
a  short  account  they  had  laid  before  them  of  the  said 
college,  to  the  end  that  from  thence,  and  a  more  full  ac- 
count thereof  in  his  hands,  a  narrative  be  drawn  up  and 
transmitted  hither  in  order  to  be  printed,  after  being  re- 
vised by  the  Committee ;  that  the  Correspondents  at 

11* 


158  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAIN ERD. 

New  York  had  likeways  sent  hither  journals  of  the 
Rev'd  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  from  the  ist  May,  1748,  to 
7th  September,  1749,  and  of  Azariah  Horton,  from  the 
26th  August,  1748,  to  the  Qth  April,  1749,  as  mission- 
ary ministers  employed  by  this  Society  for  the  conversion 
of  the  infidel  Indian  natives  living  upon  the  borders  of 
the  Provinces  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, bearing  their  diligence  and  success  in  their  mis- 
sion. That  the  Indians  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Brain- 
erd are  forming  themselves  into  a  civilized  and  orderly 
society  j  the  men  cultivate  their  lands,  and  the  women 
learn  to  spin,  so  that  they  have  in  a  great  measure  aban- 
doned their  slothful  course  of  life ;  and  a  difficulty  aris- 
ing about  the  property  of  the  land  now  possessed  by  the 
Indians  in  New  Jersey,  which  is  claimed  by  one  Mr. 
Morris,  Chief  Justice,  on  pretence  of  a  will  made  many 
years  ago  by  one  of  the  Indian  kings,  the  Correspondents 
are  to  bring  the  cause  to  a  trial  at  law. 

"The  General  Meeting,  having  heard  the  above  re- 
port, approved  of  the  Resolution  above  mentioned,  for 
purchasing  books  for  the  said  new-erected  college,  and 
also  of  publishing  an  abridgment  of  the  journals  of  the 
aforesaid  missionaries,  and  likewise  an  account  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  remit  the  Committee  to  see 
the  same  done  accordingly." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  159 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIAEY   OF   JOHN   BRAINERD   AMONG   THE   INDIANS — HOW   PRESERVED 

HIS    SPIRIT    OF    DEVOTION — HIS    INDUSTRY — HIS    SELF-DENIAL. 

T17E  are  now  allowed  to  let  Mr.  Brainerd  speak 
for  himself.  The  following  diary  we  received 
from  Mrs.  John  C.  Sims,  of  Philadelphia,  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Mr.  Brainerd.  It  is  a  small  duo- 
decimo manuscript  book,  of  seventy-seven  pages, 
written  closely  and  legibly,  after  the  manner  of  the 
day,  but  inferior  in  artistic  execution  to  the  diary 
of  his  brother  David.  It  was  retained  as  a  keep- 
sake by  a  remote  relative  of  the  family  when  the 
remainder  of  his  papers  were  innocently,  but  most 
unthinkingly,  committed  to  the  flames  about  thirty 
years  ago. 

In  deciphering  its  time-stained  pages,  we  confess 
to  a  feeling  of  profound  awe  and  veneration.  We 
seem  to  be  holding  communion  with  a  spirit  of  holi- 
ness over  the  lapse  of  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Brainerd  began 
this  diary  he  was  only  twenty-nine  years  of  age. 
Obviously,  it  was  not  designed  for  publication,  but 
as  a  kind  of  thermometer  by  which  he  could  esti- 
mate his  own  religious  state,  and  enrich  his  mind 
by  his  own  recorded  experience  and  observations. 


162  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

the  same  to  the  lasting  benefit  of  all  the  hearers !  Made 
it  evening  before  I  came  home,  and  had  time  only  to  read 
a  portion  of  Scripture  and  to  attend,  religious  duties. 

O  Lord,  sanctify  to  me  the  opportunity  of  repeatedly 
attending  on  funerals  for  my  spiritual  and  lasting  good ! 

Friday,  Aug.  18. — Went  to  take  care  of  the  Indian 
mentioned  yesterday ;  spent  most  of  the  day  with  him, 
and  joined  in  prayer  with  him.  Then  rode  out  a  little 
way  to  see  a  sick  neighbor  among  the  whites.  People 
tarried  some  time  at  the  house,  and  I  had  considerable 
discourse  upon  things  of  religion,  and  some  in  particular 
with  the  sick  man:  at  his  desire  and  the  desire  of  his 
wife,  prayed  with  him,  and,  taking  leave  of  them,  re- 
turned home.  Went  to  see  the  sick  Indian,  tarried  a 
while  with  him,  and  gave  orders  how  he  was  to  be 
tended;  but  felt  much  indisposed  in  body  myself,  and 
so,  returning  home,  attended  family  and  secret  duties, 
in  which,  I  hope,  I  had  some  taste  of  divine  things. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord! 

Saturday,  Aug.  19. — Was  very  much  indisposed  in 
body  this  morning,  yet  something  comfortable  in  mind. 
Attended  religious  duties  with  comfortable  composure, 
but  no  special  enlargement. 

Took  some  care  of  the  sick  man  in  the  forepart  of 
the  day,  but  towards  noon  felt  so  poorly  I  was  obliged 
to  lie  down;  continued  unwell  all  day.  Towards  even- 
ing thought  it  my  duty  to  take  an  emetic.  Endeavored 
to  commit  myself  to  God  in  a  few  petitions.  The  Lord 
graciously  accept  of  me  in  and  through  Christ. 

Lord's  day,  Aug.  20. — Was  very  weak  this  day ;  not 
able  to  attend  the  public  worship  in  the  forenoon,  and 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  163 

very  poorly  able  to  attend  even  family  and  secret  duties; 
but  in  the  afternoon,  feeling  a  little  better,  I  went  to 
meeting,  and  had  considerable  freedom  in  the  various 
parts  of  divine  service.  The  worship  of  God  was  also 
attended  upon  with  much  seriousness  both  by  the  white 
people  and  the  Indians. 

In  the  evening  visited  the  sick  man  mentioned  yester- 
day, &c. ;  found  him  unable  to  converse,  so  I  prayed 
with  him,  and  returned  home.  Blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord !  * 

Monday,  Aug.  21. — Attended  religious  duties.  Was 
very  poorly  in  body ;  notwithstanding,  went  to  see  the 
sick  man  several  times,  and  had  some  discourse  with 
him;  but  his  senses  were  so  disordered  that  it  was  to 
little  purpose.  Visited  him  about  two  o'clock,  and 
prayed  with  him.  Then  took  leave  of  him,  thinking  it 
my  duty  to  ride  out  for  my  health ;  and,  commending 
myself  and  my  people  to  God  by  prayer,  I  set  out,  and 
rode  first  to  Mr.  Tennent's,f  and  then  to  Dr.  Le  Count's, 

*  Sick  himself,  he  forgets  his  weakness  in  care  of  his  flock.  How 
like  his  brother  David  in  this  energy  of  duty ! 

f  This  was  the  Rev.  William  Tennent  (2),  of  Freehold,  about  six 
miles  from  Bethel.  He  was  the  second  son  of  the  Rev.  William 
Tennent,  of  Neshaminy,  Pa.,  father  of  Gilbert,  William,  John,  and 
Charles,  all  preachers  of  note  in  their  day.  William  Tennent  (2) 
was  settled  in  Freehold,  as  successor  to  his  brother  John,  by  the 
Philadelphia  Presbytery,  October  25, 1733,  and  remained  pastor  until 
1777,  forty-four  years.  His  wonderful  trance,  his  marvellous  an- 
swers to  prayer,  and  hair-breadth  escapes  from  enemies,  have  made 
him  famous.  He  was  a  near  neighbor  and  warm  friend  of  the  Brain- 
erds,  and  often  took  the  care  of  the  Indian  Church  in  their  absence. 
He  was  a  holy,  active,  warm-hearted  man,  of  large — almost  super- 
stitious— faith,  and  just  the  man  to  cheer  and  comfort  John  Brainerd 
in  his  sadness  and  depression.  Dr.  Le  Count  was  a  pious  parishioner 
of  Tenuent's.  His  name  is  still  fragrant  in  New  Jersey. 


1 64  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  tarried  there  all  night ;  was  very  kindly  entertained, 
and  had  considerable  refreshment  in  conversation.  At- 
tended family  prayers  and  secret  devotions,  in  which  I 
had  comfortable  composure  of  mind  and  something  of 
freedom.  Praised  be  the  Lord  ! 

Tuesday  y  Aug.  22. — Attended  religious  duties,  and  after 
some  time  took  leave  of  Dr.  Le  Count  and  his  spouse, 
and  rode  about  three  miles  to  a  medicinal  spring,  where 
were  a  number  of  my  people,  who  came  there  to  drink 
the  waters;  with  these  I  spent  considerable  time  in  con- 
versation and  prayer.  Took  leave  of  them,  and  went  to 
several  houses  in  Freehold,  where  I  had  business,  and  in 
the  evening  came  to  Mr.  Tennent's ;  after  some  conver- 
sation with  him,  attended  to  religious  duties  and  went  to 
rest. 

Wednesday,  Aug.  23. — Took  leave  of  Mr.  Tennent  and 
his  spouse,  and  returned  home.  Visited  the  sick  man 
mentioned  the  day  before  yesterday,  and  found  him  still 
very  low,  but  yet,  I  hope,  something  better.  In  the  even- 
ing called  my  people  together,  and  explained  to  them  the 
four  last  commandments,  concluding  with  some  spiritual 
improvement. 

Returned  home ;  visited  the  poor  sick  man  again,  &c. 
Spent  some  time  in  reading,  and  attended  religious  duties 
with  some  comfortable  freedom.  The  Lord's  name  be 
praised ! 

The  simplicity  of  this  diary  may  strike  some  as 
almost  puerile;  but,  as  a  transcript  of  a  real  life 
one  hundred  years  ago,  it  will  be  of  interest. 

We  see  from  it  the  regularity  and  specialty  of 
Brainerd's  devotions.  How  constantly  he  watched 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  3RAINERD.  165 

for  the  Divine  Presence  in  his  prayers,  and  how 
gratefully  he  acknowledged  any  special  influence 
of  the  Spirit  on  his  own  heart !  Every  hour  had 
its  duty,  and  every  duty  was  assigned  to  its  appro- 
priate hour.  This  entire  absorption  in  his  work; 
his  readiness  to  sympathize  with  the  poor,  to  bear 
their  burdens,  and  improve  their  character  and 
condition ;  his  humility,  prayerfulness,  and  earnest 
fidelity  to  every  obligation,  marked  him  as  a  model 
missionary  and  a  fit  disciple  of  Him  who  "  fulfilled 
all  righteousness." 


15 


166  LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A  JOURNEY  OVER  THE  DELAWARE  —  VISITS  PRINCETON  —  HOPEWELL— 
CROSSES  THE  RIVER  —  FINDS  SOME  INDIANS,  AND  PREACHES  TO 
THEM  -  HIS  INTERPRETER  RETURNS  HOME  WITH  THREE  SQUAWS  - 
REV.  CHARLES  BEATTY,  SAMUEL  HAZARD,  ESQ.,  REV.  RICHARD  TREAT. 


,  Aug.  24.  —  Visited  the  sick  man;  found 
him  considerably  better,  and  had  some  discourse  with 
him.  Blessed  be  the  gracious  Lord  for  his  kindness  to 
him! 

Visited  the  sick  Indian  again,  and  prayed  with  him; 
took  leave  of  him  and  several  others  of  my  people,  and 
set  out  on  a  journey  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. Called  at  Mr.  Wales'  as  I  passed  along;  tarried 
a  little  while,  and  then  came  to  Princeton.  Went  to  Jus- 
tice Stockton's,*  and  tarried  there.  I  spent  the  evening 
mostly  in  conversation,  and  afterwards  attended  family 
and  secret  duties,  in  which  I  was  favored  with  some 
comfortable  composure  of  mind,  but  had  no  special  en- 
largement. 

*  By  Justice  Stockton,  Mr.  Brainerd  refers  to  John  Stockton,  Esq., 
of  Princeton,  father  of  the  Hon.  Richard  Stockton,  of  Revolutionary 
memory.  The  grandfather  of  Richard  Stockton  purchased  some  five 
thousand  or  six  thousand  acres  of  land  at  an  early  day,  and,  leaving 
it  to  his  heirs,  founded  one  of  the  most  affluent  families  in  the  State. 
We  believe  the  present  Commodore  R.  H.  Stockton,  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  John,  still  retains  a  portion  of  the  first  purchase.  John  Stock- 
ton was  an  elder  of  the  church,  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  influence, 
a  most  liberal  friend  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  its  early  pre- 
sidents, and  a  presiding  judge  in  the  county  court.  His  house  was  a 
frequent  home  for  both  the  Brainerds.  His  memory  is  blessed  ! 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  167 

Friday,  Aug.  25. — Attended  religious  duties.  Took 
leave  of  Mr.  Stockton  and  the  family,  and  proceeded  on 
my  journey,  but  felt  very  unwell;  it  being  very  hot,  I 
could  not  travel  far.  Stopped  at  two  or  three  places, 
and  spent  some  time  with  my  friends.  Came  a  little 
after  sundown  to  Mr.  Paine's,  at  Hopewell,*  and  there 
tarried  all  night.  Was  much  indisposed ;  notwithstand- 
ing, had  considerable  discourse  on  divine  subjects,  and, 
I  trust,  some  real  taste  of  divine  things  in  family  and 
secret  duties. 

Saturday,  Aug.  26. — Set  out  with  my  interpreter  to- 
wards Delaware.  Travelled  about  twelve  miles  up  the 
stream,  and  crossed  the  river;  then  rode  about  eight  or 
nine  miles,  and  found  the  Indians  I  was  in  quest  of. 
Spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  with  them,  mostly  in 
private  conversation  and  prayer.  In  the  evening  went 
to  a  house  about  a  mile  off,  where  I  was  courteously 
entertained.  Was  much  indisposed,  and  had  no  special 
freedom  in  holy  duties.  The  Lord  graciously  quicken 
me  by  his  Holy  Spirit! 

Lord's  day,  Aug.  27. — Had  some  taste  of  divine  things 


*  Hopewell  was  the  ancient  name  of  Pennington,  in  Mercer  county. 
The  church  was  founded  in  1709,  and  is  yet  flourishing.  It  is  eight 
miles  north  of  Trenton,  and  on  Brainerd's  course  from  Princeton  to 
Neshaminy,  Pa.  In  1744,  what  was  termed  a  "New  Light  Church" 
was  erected,  by  persons  who  seceded  from  the  Presbyterian  Church 
under  the  labors  of  Whitefield,  Tennent,  and  others.  (Webster's  His- 
tory.) The  last  preacher  of  this  church  was  the  famous  Rev.  James 
Davenport,  who  died  there  in  1757,  aged  forty  years.  After  his 
death,  his  congregation,  having  perhaps  accomplished  its  mission  as 
a  witness  for  holy  zeal  and  eminent  earnestness  in  religion,  returned 
to  the  old  church.  The  two  parties  may  have  been  necessary  to  each 
other.  Mr.  Paine  doubtless  belonged  to  the  new  church. 


1 68  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

in  holy  duties  this  morning;  was  still  very  unwell.  How- 
ever, I  visited  the  Indians  again,  and  spent  the  forenoon 
with  them. 

Attended  public  worship,  and  had  some  divine  aid  in 
prayer  and  preaching.  One  or  two  persons  were  consi- 
derably affected;  the  rest  attended  with  commendable 
decency.  In  the  afternoon  I  preached  to  a  large  number 
of  white  persons,  who  gathered  together ;  and  it  pleased 
God  to  give  me  very  comfortable  freedom  in  speaking  to 
them,  and  sundry  persons  seemed  to  be  much  affected 
with  divine  truths.  Afterwards  spent  some  time  with 
the  Indians,  conversing  with  them  privately. 

Felt  very  poorly ;  *  not  able  to  sit  up  long ;  but  it 
pleased  God  to  give  me  comfortable  freedom  of  soul 
in  family  and  secret  duties.  Forever  praised  be  his  holy 
name! 

Monday,  Aug.  28. — Visited  the  Indians  again,  and  spent 
the  forenoon  with  them.  Conversed  privately  with  them 
some  time,  and  afterwards  preached  to  them.  The  word 
was  attended  unto  with  decency  and  much  seriousness ; 
and,  as  they  were  about  to  remove,  I  endeavored  to  per- 


*  These  frequent  allusions  to  ill  health  are  remarkable  and  painful 
in  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight.  He  shared,  we  fear,  in  the  feeble 
constitution  that  carried  his  brother  David  to  the  grave  at  twenty- 
nine,  Nehemiah  at  thirty-two,  Israel  at  twenty-three,  and  his  sister, 
Jerusha  Spencer,  at  thirty-four.  Though  he  himself  reached  sixty, 
his  whole  life  seems  to  have  been  a  struggle  with  physical  infirmity. 
It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  in  the  whole  Brainerd  family  for 
two  hundred  years  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  a  morbid  depression, 
akin  to  hypochondria.  They  have  been  generally,  in  fact,  long-lived, 
and  in  health  relatively  better  in  old  age  than  in  youth.  But  their 
nervous  sensibility,  restless  activity,  and  impaired  digestion,  either  as 
a  cause  or  effect  of  peculiar  temperament,  have  made  them  often  in 
imagination  "die  daily."  Quorum  pars  fui. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  169 

suade  them  to  come  to  the  Indian  town*  in  New  Jersey ; 
but  they  seemed  not  willing,  and  desired  that  I  would 
come  up  to  the  place  where  they  were  going,  about 
thirty  or  forty  miles  above  the  Forks  of  Delaware,  and 
they  would  be  willing  to  hear  me.  So  I  took  leave  of 
them,  and  they  went  their  way.  My  interpreter  also  left 
me  by  agreement,  and  returned  into  the  Jerseys  with  two 
or  three  squaws  who  came  here  from  the  Indian  town  to 
see  these  Indians ;  and  I  proceeded  on  my  journey,  and 
rode  to  Mr.  Beatty's,f  at  Neshaminy,  and  tarried  there 
all  night.  Attended  family  and  secret  duties  with  some 
comfortable  composure  of  mind.  The  Lord  be  praised 
for  all  his  goodness  and  kindness  to  the  most  unworthy 
of  all  creatures! 


*  Bethel. 

f  The  Brainerd  brothers  had  no  friend  more  intimate,  more  reli- 
able and  valued  than  Rev.  Charles  Beatty,  of  Neshaminy,  Pa.  In 
David's  journal,  October  28,  1746,  he  makes  a  touching  allusion  to 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Beatty  and  others,  who  had  taken  pains  to  ride 
thirty  or  forty  miles  to  see  him  at  Princeton.  Mr.  Beatty  was  born 
in  Ireland  in  1714,  came  to  America  in  1729,  was  licensed  by  New 
Brunswick  Presbytery  in  1742,  and  settled  at  the  Forks  of  Nesham- 
iny (now  Hartsville,  Bucks  county,  Pa.),  May  26,  1743,  and  con- 
tinued pastor  until  he  died  at  Bridgeton,  in  the  island  of  Barbadoes, 
in  1782.  His  fervent  piety  and  apostolic  zeal  endeared  the  Brainerds 
to  him,  and  him  to  them.  He  was  one  of  the  master-minds  of  his 
day.  As  a  missionary  to  North  Carolina  for  a  season,  and  to  the 
Indians  at  Muskingum  with  Dr.  Duffield  in  1766,  as  the  successful 
agent  for  a  public  charity  to  England,  as  moderator  to  the  Synod  in 
1764,  as  chaplain  in  the  army  and  evangelist  among  the  churches,  as 
the  faithful  pastor  at  Neshaminy  for  forty  years,  his  name  occurs 
everywhere  in  the  annals  of  the  period,  and  always  with  honor.  His 
grandson,  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.D.,  Steubenville,  Ohio,  has  made 
the  name  precious  to  another  generation.  I  am  happy  by  this  brief 
note  to  pay  this  little  tribute  to  a  man  so  cherished  by  the  subject  of 
this  memoir. 

15* 


170  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

Tuesday,  dug.  29. — Took  leave  of  Mrs.  Beatty,  an.l 
proceeded  on  my  journey.  Visited  Mr.  Treat  *  on  my 
way  to  Philadelphia.  Dined  with  him,  and  spent  some 
time  in  conversation  with  him ;  then  set  forward,  and 
came  to  Philadelphia  a  little  after  sundown.  Went  to 
Mr.  Hazard's,!  an^  tarried  there.  Spent  some  time  at 
a  singing  meeting,  and  afterwards  attended  family  and 
secret  duties,  but  with  very  little  freedom  or  enlarge- 
ment. The  Lord  forgive,  and  graciously  quicken  me  by 
his  Holy  Spirit! 

*  The  Rev.  Richard  Treat,  of  Abington,  Bucks  county,  Pa.  He 
was  born  at  Milford,  Conn.,  in  1708,  graduated  at  Yale  in  1725,  and 
settled  at  Abington  in  1731.  In  1734,  after  having  preached  six 
years,  he  was  converted,  or  re-converted,  under  the  preaching  of 
Whitefield.  Becoming  a  zealous  revivalist  according  to  the  mode  of 
the  "New  Side,"  he  was  "excluded"  by  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery, 
and  attached  himself  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  He  was 
a  most  useful  man  in  his  day,  and  survived  until  1778. 

f  This  was,  no  doubt,  Samuel  Hazard,  formerly  a  respectable  mer- 
chant of  this  city,  and  father  of  the  late  Ebenezer  Hazard,  an  early 
Postmaster-General  under  the  old  Congress.  Samuel  Hazard  took 
a  very  active  part  in  the  religious  and  benevolent  institutions  of  the 
day.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
under  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  then  worshipping  in  the  "new  building' 
erected  by  Rev.  G.  Whitefield,  on  Fourth,  below  Arch  Street,  and  also 
an  elder.  When  the  congregation  was  obliged  to  remove  from  thence, 
a  sale  of  the  building  having  been  made  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Aca- 
demy in  1749-50,  he  was  one  of  a  committee  to  purchase  a  new  lot 
for  the  church  and  burial-ground  at  the  corner  of  Arch  and  Third, 
as  well  as  superintend  the  erection.  He  continued,  it  is  believed, 
elder,  treasurer,  or  trustee,  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
July  19,  1758;  and  he  was  also  one  of  the  early  contributors  to  the 
foundation  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  was  at  the  first  elec- 
tion chosen  a  manager,  and  as  such  served  for  three  years,  from  1751 
to  1753.  In  many  other  respects  he  was  considered  a  very  excellent 
and  useful  man. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  171 


CHAPTER  XV. 


ENDEAVORS  TO  BENEFIT  A  QUAKER  —  RANCOCAS  INDIANS  —  AN  INDIAN 
FUNERAL  —  AN  INDIAN  GOD  —  SATURDAY  SERMONS  —  MUCH  DISTURBED 
BY  WHITE  PEOPLE  —  A  LITTLE  INDIAN  BOY  CRIES  TO  GO  HOME  WITH 
MR.  BRAINERD  -  IS  TAKEN  ALONG. 


,  Aug.  30.  —  Attended  family  and  secret 
devotions  ;  visited  a  friend  or  two,  and  then,  taking 
leave  at  Mr.  Hazard's,  crossed  the  ferry,  and  came  to  a 
number  of  Indians  near  Rancocas,*  where  I  had  appointed 
my  interpreter  to  meet  me.  I  spent  some  time  in  private 
conversation  with  them,  and  afterwards  called  them  all  to- 
gether, being  about  twenty-two  in  number,  and  preached 
to  them.  They  attended  on  divine  worship  with  serious- 
ness and  considerable  decency.  I  spent  the  remainder 
of  the  day  in  private  discourse  with  them,  and  about 
sundown  went  to  my  lodgings.  May  the  Lord  follow 
what  has  been'spoken  with  his  blessing! 

*  Rancocas  is  the  name  of  a  river  which  rises  in  Burlington  county, 
N.  J.,  and  after  a  course  of  some  twenty  miles  empties  into  the  Dela- 
ware, about  sixteen  miles  above  Philadelphia.  It  is  navigable  to 
Harrisport,  about  ten  miles  up  from  the  Delaware.  The  village  of 
Rancocas  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  stream,  about  six  miles  up  the 
river.  Many  Indians  lingered  about  this  stream  until  their  final  re- 
moval from  the  State.  Their  principal  settlement  was  about  a  mile 
west  of  Vincenttown,  on  Quakeson  Creek.  At  a  later  period,  when 
Mr  Brainerd  removed  to  Mount  Holly  (or  Bridgetown),  on  the  Ran- 
cocas, he  had  a  log  church,  in  which  he  preached  to  these  Indians 
many  years.  It  was  afterwards  occupied  by  the  whites.  A  school- 
house  about  two  miles  from  Vincenttown  is  said  to  have  in  it  some  of 
the  timbers  of  the  old  Rancocas  Indian  sanctuary  built  by  Brainerd. 


1 72  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

I  spent  some  time  in  conversation  with  the  man  of  the 
house,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  Quaker.  Endeavored  to 
convince  him  of  the  reasonableness  and  duty  of  family 
religion,  such  as  asking  a  blessing  and  giving  thanks  at 
table,  family  prayer,  &c.  He  had  nothing  to  object 
against  these  things,  but  yet  was  not  willing  to  comply. 
After  some  time,  returned  to  my  lodging-room ;  spent 
some  time  in  reading  and  prayer,  and  then  went  to  bed. 

Friday,  Sept.  i. — Visited  the  Indians  again.  Spent 
some  time  in  private  discourse  with  them,  and  then 
gathered  them  all  together  and  preached  to  them.  They 
attended  on  the  several  parts  of  divine  worship  with 
seriousness  and  decency,  and  one  or  two  seemed  to  be 
affected  with  divine  truths.  Blessed  be  the  Lord !  Oh 
that  it  might  please  a  gracious  God  to  bring  them  to 
a  saving  acquaintance  with  himself!  Spent  some  time 
in  discoursing  with  them,  and  then  returned  to  my  lodg- 
ings; took  some  refreshment,  and  came  back  to  the  In- 
dians again ;  found  a  great  number  of  white  people  with 
them,  who  came  to  attend  the  funeral  of  an  old  Indian 
who  died  the  day  before.  The  old  man,  it  seemed,  had 
been  an  honest  creature,  and  had  gained  the  respect  of 
all  the  neighbors. 

I  called  the  Indians  together  in  one  place,  and,  after 
prayer,  discoursed  to  them,  suiting  my  discourse  to  their 
understanding  and  the  occasion  as  well  as  I  could ;  and 
when  I  had  done  speaking  to  the  Indians,  turned  to  the 
white  people,  a  great  number  of  whom  were  present, — 
I  believe  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 
of  all  sorts, — and  gave  them  a  solemn  word  of  exhorta- 
tion (may  the  Lord  follow  it  with  his  blessing!).  After 
public  worship  was  ended,  attended  the  funeral  of  the 
old  man.  The  Indians  were  generally  sober ;  but  one 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  173 

or  two  had  too  much  drink,  notwithstanding  all  the  pains 
I  had  taken  the  day  before  and  in  the  forenoon.  After 
the  funeral  was  over  and  the  white  people  gone,  I  spent 
some  time  discoursing  with  the  Indians,  and,  upon  their 
desire,  determined  to  tarry  with  them  the  Sabbath  over. 
A  little  after  came  my  interpreter  and  two  more,  an  In- 
dian and  a  squaw,  with  whom  I  had  some  discourse,  and, 
to  my  comfort,  found  them  well  inclined. 

The  woman  after  the  meeting  in  the  forenoon  came 
to  me,  and  told  me  that  she  had  an  aunt  about  eight  or 
nine  miles  off  who  kept  an  idol  image,  which,  indeed, 
partly  belonged  to  her,  and  that  she  had  a  mind  to  go  and 
fetch  her  aunt  and  the  image,  that  it  might  be  burnt ;  but 
when  she  went  to  the  place  she  found  nobody  at  home, 
and  the  image  also  was  taken  away.  After  this  I  spent 
some  time  in  reading  the  Bible,  and  in  my  evening  de- 
votions had  something  of  freedom  and  comfort.  The 
Lord's  name  be  praised  for  all  his  kindness  to  me ! 

Saturday,  Sept.  2. — Had,  I  hope,  some  real  desire  after 
God  this  morning  in  secret  prayer  for  precious  souls, 
especially  of  the  poor  Indians.  Spent  some  time  in  read- 
ing ;  then  waited  on  a  friend  who  came  from  New  Eng- 
land, and  spent  some  time  in  conversation  with  him. 
Afterwards  visited  the  Indians,  had  considerable  conver- 
sation with  them  in  a  more  private  manner ;  then  retired 
a  little  while  for  prayer,  and  afterwards  called  the  In- 
dians all  together  and  carried  on  public  worship ;  prayed, 
and  gave  them  some  instruction  from  the  word  of  God ; 
after  meeting  discoursed  more  privately  to  several  of 
them,  and  then  retired  to  my  quarters.  Took  some  re- 
freshment, and  came  again  to  the  Indians.  Spent  about 
an  hour  in  more  private  conversation  with  them,  and  then 
called  them  all  together  and  preached  to  them  again. 


174  L1FE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

These  Indians  (being  near  twenty  in  number)  seem  to 
be  generally  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, and  one  or  two  seem  to  be  concerned  for  their 
souls,  and  desire  to  go  where  they  can  have  opportunity 
to  hear  the  gospel.  I  encouraged  their  going  to  Bethel, 
the  Christian  Indian  town,  which  I  suspect  a  number  will 
do;  but  others  seem  inclined  to  go  over  towards  Susque- 
hanna.  May  the  Lord  follow  them,  wherever  they  go, 
with  his  blessing,  and  make  them  savingly  acquainted 
with  his  dear  Son ! 

Spent  some  time  in  conversation  with  the  people  of 
the  house,  and  afterwards  in  reading  and  meditation ;  and 
attended  secret  devotions,  in  which  I  had  some  freedom 
and,  I  hope,  a  real  sense  of  divine  things.  Praised  be 
the  Lord! 

Lord's  day,  Sept.  3. — Spent  some  time  in  meditation, 
and  afterwards  had  some  conversation  with  the  man  of 
the  house.  Observing  that  he  talked  about  worldly 
things,  endeavored  to  show  him  the  evil  of  the  same, 
and  that  the  Sabbath  ought  to  be  kept  holy  in  both  word 
and  deed.  Went  to  the  Indians  about  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing; attended  divine  worship  with  them,  there  being  now 
about  thirty  persons  more  able  to  attend  on  religious  wor- 
ship. 

After  meeting,  went  about  half  a  mile  to  preach  to  a 
number  of  white  people,  at  their  desire  (many  of  the  In- 
dians attending  there  also);  and  it  pleased  God  to  grant 
me  very  comfortable  freedom  in  preaching.  May  the 
Lord  set  home  the  word  upon  their  hearts  for  their 
saving  good ! 

After  I  had  some  refreshment,  returned  again  to  the 
Indians.  Gathered  them  all  together,  and  attended  di- 
vine worship  with  them,  in  which  it  pleased  a  gracious 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  175 

God  to  give  some  freedom  and  an  ardent  desire  for  their 
souls. 

They  attended  again  with  seriousness  and  solemnity, 
although  there  were  many  white  people  present  who  be- 
haved very  badly,  going  from  place  to  place  and  talking 
loud,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  speak  to  them  and  desire 
them  to  be  still.  Took  some  refreshment,  and  had  some 
discourse  with  several  persons  who  came  in.  Afterwards 
attended  secret  devotions,  in  which  it  pleased  God  to  give 
me  some  freedom  and  comfort.  Blessed  be  his  holy  name ! 

Monday,  Sept.  4. — Rose  early  this  morning.  Soon 
after  bid  farewell  to  the  honest  old  man  and  his  wife, 
who  were  so  kind  they  would  take  nothing  of  me  for  my 
keeping.  Then  went  to  the  Indians;  spent  some  time 
in  conversation,  and  then  called  them  together  and  at- 
tended public  worship ;  prayed,  preached,  &c,,  and  after 
I  had  done,  gave  them  a  more  particular  account  of  the 
state  of  affairs  among  the  Indians  at  Bethel,  where  I  live, 
and  advised  them  to  come  there. 

Just  as  I  was  about  to  take  leave  of  them,  there  came 
a  little  boy  of  about  ten  or  eleven  years  old,  and  hung 
about  me  and  began  to  cry,  upon  which  I  inquired  what 
he  wanted.  I  soon  understood  that  he  wanted  to  go 

o 

with  me ;  so  I  asked  his  parents  if  they  were  willing. 
They  said,  "yes."  So  I  sent  him  along  with  an  Indian 
who  belonged  to  the  place  where  I  live.*  Another  showed 
a  very  great  desire  to  go,  and  cried  heartily  enough  be- 
cause he  could  not  go  then ;  and  when  I  took  my  leave 
of  them  the  most  of  them  seemed  to  be  sorrowful.  May 


*  The  fate  of  this  little  volunteer  we  know  not.  We  hope  his 
choice  of  God's  people  led  him  to  Christ.  It  was  a  scene  which  must 
have  cheered  the  heart  of  the  earnest  missionary. 


176  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAlh 'ERD. 

the  Lord  bless  what  has  been  spoken  to  them,  and  grant 
that  the  good  impressions  made  on  their  minds  may  never 
wear  off  till  they  are  brought  to  a  saving  acquaintance 
with  himself! 

Travelled  to  Maidenhead,*  and  was  kindly  welcomed 
by  a  friend  there. 

Tuesday,  Sept.  5. — Attended  family  and  secret  duties, 
and  then  took  leave  of  my  friends  and  came  on  my  way. 
Went  to  visit  a  number  of  Indians  as  I  passed  along,  and 
spent  considerable  time  with  them  in  prayer,  singing,  and 
conversation ;  visited  also  several  Christian  friends.  Took 
leave  of  the  Indians,  etc.,  and  came  up  to  Justice  Stock- 
ton's, at  Princeton,  with  whom  I  tarried  all  night. 

Wednesday,  Sept.  6. — Attended  religious  duties,  and 
then  took  leave  of  Mr.  Stockton,  etc.,  and  came  on  my 
way  homeward.  Visited  Mr.  Wales, f  and  spent  some 
hours  with  him,  and  came  home  about  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  Spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  even- 
ing mostly  in  conversation  with  my  people,  who  came  to 
see  me,  and  was  considerably  refreshed.  Praised  be  the 
Lord  for  all  his  kindness  and  goodness  to  me  on  this 


*  Maidenhead  was  the  ancient  name  of  the  present  village  of  Law- 
renceville.  It  is  about  five  miles  from  Trenton,  and  the  same  distance 
from  Princeton.  It  is  a  place  of  historic  Revolutionary  interest,  and 
at  the  present  time  distinguished  for  its  excellent  male  and  female 
aca  lemies.  James  Brainerd  Taylor  was  here  prepared  for  college. 

f  The  Rev.  Eleazer  Wales  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1727,  and 
is.  said  to  have  been  settled  at  Allentown,  N.  J.,  in  1730.  David 
Brainerd  assisted  him  at  a  communion  at  Kingston,  near  Princeton, 
June  15,  1746.  As  John  Brainerd  found  him  at  Allentown,  on  the 
way  from  Princeton  to  Bethel,  we  arc  inclined  to  believe  he  occupied 
both  Kingston  (Milestown  anciently)  and  Allentown.  lie  died  in 
1749,  shortly  after  this  visit  from  John  Brainerd. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  177 

journey,  and  that  he  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  bring 
me  home  in  safety  to  my  family  and  people !  Oh,  may 
I  live  as  well  as  speak  his  praise ! 

Thursday,  Sept.  7. — Conversed  with  two  or  three  of 
my  people,  who  came  in  to  see  me.  Afterwards  began 
to  transcribe  my  journal,  but  felt  so  exceedingly  poorly 
in  body  that  I  was  not  able  to  write ;  so  I  spent  some 
time  in  reading.  Felt  something  dejected,  but  yet  not 
altogether  uncomfortable  in  mind. 

After  dinner,  spent  some  time  in  prayer,  in  which  I 
found  considerable  freedom.  Blessed  be  God!  All  the 
world  appeared  like  nothing  to  me,  and  God  seemed  like 
all  in  all ;  and  it  was  the  earnest  desire  of  my  soul  to 
glorify  him  in  heart  and  life.  After  this  I  read  a  little, 
and  in  the  evening  called  my  people  together  and  wor- 
shipped in  my  usual  manner,  and  afterwards  made  some 
practical  improvement  of  the  subject.  It  pleased  God  to 
give  me  considerable  freedom  this  evening,  especially  in 
prayer.  Returned  home;  spent  some  time  with  a  Chris- 
tian friend,  and  afterwards  attended  family  and  secret  du- 
ties, in  which  also  I  had  some  outgoings  of  soul  to  God. 
Blessed  be  his  holy  name ! 

Friday,  Sept.  8. — Took  care  of  a  temporal  affair  be- 
longing to  the  Indians.  After  dinner,  spent  two  or  three 
hours  with  a  couple  of  Indians  about  some  particular 
business ;  afterwards  occupied  some  time  in  reading,  and 
the  evening  was  wholly  spent  in  reading  and  prayer.  O 
Lord,  grant  me  the  quickening  influence  of  thy  grace  and 
Holy  Spirit,  I  humbly  beseech  thee! 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

JOHN  BRAINERD  FOLLOWS  THE  INDIANS  TO  A  MINERAL  SPRING — IN- 
DIAN MISTRESS  ATTENDING  TO  PRAYERS — REV.  MR.  DAVENPORT — 
BRAINERD  MAKES  ANOTHER  JOURNEY — ELIZABETHTOWN — NEWARK 

— REV.  AARON   BURR — THANKSGIVING LEAVES    HOME    AGAIN — AM- 

WELL — BRUNSWICK — REV.  MR.  ARTHUR. 

&4TURD4T,  Sept.  9. — Attended  morning  devotions 
in  the  family  and  secret,  but  had  not  much  life;  yet 
I  had  some  real  desire  to  love  and  glorify  God.  May 
the  blessed  Lord  increase  the  same!  Spent  a  little  time 
in  reading  the  Bible ;  afterwards  rode  about  fifteen  miles 
to  visit  a  number  of  my  people,  who  were  gone  to  a  me- 
dicinal spring,  being  valetudinary.  Conversed  with  them, 
and  then  prayed  with  them,  and,  taking  leave  of  them, 
called  at  Rev.  Mr.  Tennent's,  and  then  came  home. 
Found  the  mistress  and  the  Indians  attending  on  divine 
service,  as  usual,  this  evening.  Had  thoughts  of  going 
to  join  with  them,  but,  going  into  the  house,  found  Rev. 
Mr.  Davenport*  within,  much  indisposed  and  not  able 

*  The  Rev.  James  Davenport,  the  great-grandson  of  the  Rev.  John 
Davenport,  founder  of  the  colony  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  was  born 
in  Stamford,  Conn.,  in  1716;  he  graduated  at  Yale  College  under 
President  Williams.  Whitefield  met  him  in  May,  1740,  and  calls 
him  "one  of  the  ministers  whom  God  has  lately  sent  out;  a  sweet, 
zealous  soul."  He  caught  fire  in  the  Great  Revival,  and  was  among 
its  most  zealous  promoters.  Whitefield  said  of  him  :  "  He  knew  no 
man  keep  so  close  a  walk  with  God."  Twenty  Niantic  Indians  were 
converted  under  his  preaching  at  East  Lymc.  With  talents,  piety, 
and  zeal,  fitting  him  for  vast  influence  and  usefulness,  he  fell  into 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRA1NERD.  179 

to  attend  the  meeting.  Attended  family  and  secret  du- 
ties, and  had,  I  hope,  some  real  sense  of  divine  things. 
Praised  be  the  Lord  for  any  favor  vouchsafed  to  an  un- 
worthy creature! 

Lord's  day,  Sept.  10. — Had  some  comfort  this  morning 
in  holy  duties.  O  Lord,  pardon  and  quicken  me  by  thy 
Holy  Spirit !  Attended  the  public  worship  at  the  usual 
time,  and  was  favored  with  something  of  freedom  in  the 
various  parts  of  divine  service.  Preached  from  the  Para- 
ble of  the  Supper.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Davenport 
preached,  without  an  interpreter,  from  Matt.  xi.  23,  in 
which  he  seemed  to  have  considerable  freedom,  and 
several  of  the  Indians  were  much  affected  with  divine 
truths;  and  the  whole  assembly  attended  with  serious- 
ness, there  being  also  many  white  people  present. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  day  attended  a  third  meeting  •, 
Mr.  Davenport  being  unable  to  go.  Repeated  the  heads 
and  substance  of  his  discourse,  and  concluded  with  some 
exhortations  which  seemed  to  have  a  desirable  effect  on 
the  minds  of  the  audience,  and  several  appeared  to  be 
much  affected.  Blessed  be  the  Lord !  Oh,  may  those 
efforts  be  productive  of  good  effects !  Returned  home ; 
it  being  something  after  sundown.  Spent  some  time  in 
religious  conversation,  and  attended  family  and  secret  du- 


fanaticism.  His  excesses  at  one  period,  attended,  as  they  were,  by 
a  "long  fever"  and  "cankery  humor,"  with  "  inflammatory  ulcera- 
tions,"  raise  a  presumption  of  insanity  ;  and  he  was  a  better  subject 
for  a  lunatic  asylum  or  hospital  than  the  jail  to  which  bigotry  con- 
signed him.  He  recovered  physically  and  mentally,  repented  of  his 
extravagance,  removed  to  New  Jersey,  and  was  installed,  October  27, 
1754,  over  the  congregations  of  Maidenhead  (Lawrenceville)  and 
Hopewell,  where  he  died  in  1757,  and  was  buried  about  a  mile  from 
Pennington,  towards  the  Delaware. 


180  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAIN ERD. 

ties,  and  had,  I  hope,  some  comfortable  desires  and  out- 
goings toward  God.    Praised  be  thy  holy  name,  O  Lord ! 

Monday,  Sept.  1 1 . — Spent  some  time  with  Mr.  Daven- 
port, and,  after  he  was  gone,  attended  upon  some  busi- 
ness relating  to  the  Indians,  which  occupied  me  till 
noon.  In  the  evening  called  my  people  together ;  spent 
some  time  in  discoursing  to  them  on  a  divine  subject  and 
prayer,  which  was  attended  to  with  much  seriousness 
and  affection  in  some.  Returned  home ;  read  a  portion 
of  Holy  Scripture,  and  attended  secret  devotions  with 
some  enlargement  of  heart. 

Tuesday,  Sept.  12. — Set  out  on  a  journey  to  Newark. 
Had  some  comfortable  meditations  on  the  way.  Went 
no  farther  than  Elizabethtown  this  day.  Tarried  at  Mr. 
Woodruff's;  after  some  conversation,  attended  to  family 
and  secret  devotions,  but  had  no  special  freedom  therein. 
The  Lord  pardon  my  deadness,  and  quicken  me  by  his 
Holy  Spirit. 

Wednesday,  Sept.  13. — After  family  and  secret  devo- 
tions, set  out  for  Newark.  Visited  a  friend  on  the  way, 
and  came  to  Mr.  Burr's  about  ten  o'clock.  Spent  some 
time  at  his  house;  after  dinner  rode  with  him  to  the 
Mountains,*  to  Mr.  Smith's;  tarried  with  him  two  or 


*  Newark  Mountains  embrace  the  region  now  called  Orange,  north 
of  Newark,  N.  J.  The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  was  born  in  Brookhaven, 
L.  I.,  in  1723;  graduated  at  Yale  in  1743.  In  common  with  Brain- 
erd,  he  was  a  warm  friend  and  trustee  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
He  married  a  daughter  of  President  Dickinson.  His  sermon  on  the 
death  of  the  Rev.  President  Aaron  Burr  is  highly  creditable  to  his 
intellect  and  taste.  He  died  in  1762,  aged  thirty-nine.  His  descend- 
ants are  highly  respectable. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  i?i 

three  hours,  and  then  returned  to  Mr.  Burr's.  Visited 
a  dear  Christian  friend  in  the  evening,  and  returned  to 
Mr.  Burr's  again.  Spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening 
mostly  in  conversation. 

Thursday,  Sept.  14. — Set  out  with  Mr.  Burr  for  Shrews- 
bury, upon  some  business  relating  to  the  college.  Came 
as  far  as  Dr.  Le  Count's,  and  lodged  there.  Spent  the 
evening  chiefly  in  religious  conversation ;  and  had  some 
refreshment  in  holy  duties,  especially  in  secret  prayer. 

Friday,  Sept.  15. — Rode  with  Mr.  Burr  to  Shrewsbury, 
intending  (after  the  business  was  accomplished)  to  ride  a 
considerable  part  if  not  all  of  the  way  home  on  the  same 
day;  but,  it  growing  very  stormy  in  the  afternoon,  was 
obliged  to  tarry  there.  Was  comfortable  in  mind  and,  I 
think,  resigned  to  the  disposal  of  Providence,  though  I 
exceedingly  wanted  to  be  at  home.  In  my  evening  de- 
vo'aons  had  comfortable  freedom  and  enlargement.  For- 
ever blessed  be  thy  holy  name,  O  Lord ! 

Saturday,  Sept.  1 6. — Attended  holy  duties,  &c.,  and 
then  set  out  with  Mr.  Burr  on  my  journey  home.  Came 
to  Dr.  Le  Count's,  and  there  parted ;  he  turning  to  the 
right  hand,  and  I  to  the  left.  Reached  home  a  little 
after  noon.  After  some  short  time,  convened  my  people 
together,  and  entertained  them  with  a  discourse  from 
Matt.  xxv.  6,  in  which  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me 
very  comfortable  freedom.  Sundry  of  the  Indians  also 
were  much  affected  with  divine  truths,  and  attended  with 
much  seriousness.  After  sermon  we  spent  some  consi- 
derable time  in  prayer,  and  then  returned  home.  Spent 
the  evening  mostly  in  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer, 
and  had,  I  hope,  some  real  sense  of  divine  things  and 

16* 


1 82  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

some  desires  to  be  devoted  to  God.     Praised  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord ! 

Lord's  day,  Sept.  17. — Spent  a  considerable  part  of  the 
morning  in  secret  prayer,  in  which,  I  hope,  I  had  a  real 
sense  of  divine  things,  but  no  special  enlargement.  At- 
tended public  worship  at  the  usual  time,  and  it  pleased 
God  to  give  me  some  aid  in  the  various  parts  of  divine 
service.  Preached  from  Isa.  liii.  5,  and  several  persons 
were  much  affected.  When  the  exercise  was  concluded, 
I  administered  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  which  it  pleased  the 
gracious  God  to  give  me  a  comfortable  sense  of  spiritual 
and  divine  things.  Forever  praised  be  his  holy  name ! 
The  Indians  also  were,  many  of  them,  sweetly  affected 
while  at  the  table. 

After  a  short  intermission,  again  preached  from  Isa.  Iv. 
5,  and  it  pleased  the  gracious  Lord  to  give  me  freedom 
in  speaking  and,  I  trust,  some  real  assistance,  and  much 
comfort  in  every  part  of  divine  service.  It  seemed  alco 
to  be  a  refreshing  season  among  the  dear  Indians.  The 
Lord's  name  be  praised  !  Returned  home,  being  much 
spent  in  body,  but,  through  the  grace  of  God,  comfort- 
able in  mind.  Afterwards  visited  several  of  my  people, 
and  found,  to  my  great  satisfaction,  it  had  been  a  refresh- 
ing season  to  their  souls.  After  this  returned  home,  and 
attended  secret  prayer,  in  which  I  was  favored  with  very 
comfortable  outgoings  of  soul  to  God. 

Monday,  Sept.  1 8.— Attended  family  and  secret  duties, 
and  was  very  comfortable  therein.  Had  some  discourse 
with  one  of  my  people,  who  came  to  see  me.  About 
nine  o'clock  called  my  people  together,  and  entertained 
them  with  a  discourse  from  Titus  iii.  8,  in  which  I  had 
comfortable  freedom,  as  also  in  the  other  parts  of  divine 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  183 

service ;  the  Indians  seemed  also  greatly  affected.  After 
public  worship,  had  some  discourse  more  privately  with 
sundry  persons,  and  found  it  had  been  a  refreshing  season 
to  their  souls.  O  Lord,  I  humbly  thank  thee  for  all  thy 
kindness  and  goodness  to  me  and  the  dear  people  thou 
hast  committed  to  my  charge,  especially  on  this  solemn 
and  sacramental  occasion !  May  there  be  lasting  good 
effects  from  it  on  all  our  souls ! 

After  I  came  home,  spent  considerable  time  with  one 
and  another  of  my  people,  who  came  to  my  house ;  then 
wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend,  and  afterwards  had  a  little  time 
to  read ;  but  in  the  evening  came  Mr.  Davenport  and 
Justice  Stockton,  who  had  been  at  Mr.  Tennent's  sacra- 
ment. With  these  I  spent  the  evening,  and  after  some 
time  attended  family  and  secret  duties.  I  hope  I  had 
some  real  sense  of  spiritual  things.  O  Lord,  increase 
my  view  of  and  love  to  thee,  and  let  me  ever  live  to  thy 
glory ! 

Tuesday,  Sept.  19. — Having  occasion  to  go  to  Amwell* 
on  some  business  for  the  Indians,  after  attending  religious 
duties,  set  out  with  Mr.  Davenport  and  Mr.  Stockton, 
their  road  and  mine  being  the  same  for  about  ten  miles. 
Called  to  see  Mr.  Wales,  and  dined  with  him ;  then  pro- 
ceeded on  our  journey.  Parted  with  my  two  companions 
and  rode  the  rest  of  the  way  alone,  being  something  more 
than  twenty  miles,  and  arrived  there  early  in  the  evening. 
Lodged  at  the  house  of  an  old  honest  Dutchman,  and  was 
kindly  entertained.  After  some  conversation  with  him, 
retired  to  my  lodging-room ;  attended  to  secret  devotions, 
and  went  to  rest. 

*  Amwell  was  a  township  of  Hunterdon  county.  It  embraced 
the  territory  in  which  are  now  situated  Flemington,  Sergcantville, 
Ringoes,  Prattsville,  and  Lambertsville. 


1 84  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

Wednesday,  Sept.  20. — Arose  early ;  attended  to  secret 
duties ;  took  leave  of  the  honest  man  and  his  family,  and 
came  on  my  way  towards  Brunswick,  being  obliged  to  go 
that  way  because  I  could  not  accomplish  the  business  at 
Amwell  that  I  went  upon.  Arrived  there  about  one  of 
the  clock,  being  about  thirty  miles.  Dined  at  Rev.  Mr. 
Arthur's;*  tarried  some  time  in  town,  but  could  not  ac- 
complish the  business  I  aimed  at.  Left  the  town  about 
five  o'clock,  and  came  home  in  the  beginning  of  the 
evening.  Read  a  little,  but  felt  tired  with  my  journey ; 
so,  after  attending  family  and  secret  duties,  went  to  rest. 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  all  his  goodness  in  carrying  me 
forth  and  returning  me  home  in  safety !  Oh,  may  I  speak 
and  live  his  praises! 

Thursday,  Sept.  21. — Spent  the  forenoon  in  writing. 
In  the  afternoon,  called  my  people  together  and  preached 
to  them  from  Eccl.  xii.  5,  giving  a  particular  view  to  the 
young  people  and  children.  After  sermon,  catechized  the 
children,  and  concluded  with  some  exhortation.  Spent 
the  remainder  of  the  day  and  evening  mostly  in  writing. 

Friday,  Sept.  22. — Attended  religious  duties,  and  sat 
down  to  write.  Spent  most  of  the  day  in  transcribing  my 
journal.  Attended  family  and  secret  prayers,  and,  blessed 
be  the  Lord,  had  some  freedom  and  comfort  in  both ! 

Saturday,  Sept.  23. — Spent  some  time  with  the  Indians, 
discoursing  with  them,  and  especially  with  one  of  them, 

*  This  was  Rev.  Thomas  Arthur,  pastor  of  the  church  of  New 
Brunswick.  He  graduated  at  Yale  in  1743,  and  was  an  original 
trustee  of  New  Jersey  College.  His  obituary  says:  "  He  was  a  good 
scholar,  a  graceful  orator,  an  excellent  Christian."  He  died  at  the 
earl_y  age  of  twenty-seven. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  i8< 

on  a  matter  of  difficulty  and  prejudice.  Set  out  on  a 
journey  for  Shrewsbury,*  and  came  to  Justice  Little's 
after  sundown.  Felt  very  poorly  in  body,  and  not  very 
comfortable  in  mind.  Attended  family  prayer,  and  spent 
some  time  in  private  meditation  and  prayer,  but  had  very 
little  freedom.  The  Lord  pardon  and  quicken  me  for 
his  mercy's  sake. 

Lord's  day,  Sept.  24. — Spent  the  morning  mostly  in 
meditation.  Attended  divine  worship  in  public,  but  had 
no  special  freedom  in  the  forenoon  service;  in  the  after- 
noon had  considerable  enlargement,  both  in  prayer  and 
preaching.  Oh  that  it  might  be  set  home  upon  their 
hearts  for  spiritual  good !  Spent  the  evening  mostly  in 
conversation  and  singing  psalms,  and  had  something  of 
freedom  in  holy  duties,  especially  in  secret  prayer. 

Monday,  Sept.  25. — Spent  the  forenoon  at  Mr.  Eaton's 
(it  being  rainy),  partly  in  reading  and  partly  in  conversa- 
tion. In  the  afternoon  came  to  Dr.  Le  Count's,  but,  it 
being  very  stormy,  could  proceed  no  farther. 

Tuesday,  Sept.  26. — After  family  and  secret  duties,  took 
leave  of  the  doctor  and  his  spouse,  and  came  to  Rev.  Mr. 
Tennent's,  and  then  returned  home.  Called  my  people 
together;  exhorted  as  usual,  and  afterwards  made  some 
practical  reflections. 

*  Shrewsbury  is  a  village  of  Monmouth  county,  N.  J.,  twelve  miles 
east  from  Freehold,  and  fifty  southeast  from  Trenton.  It  is  a  seaport 
town.  Shrewsbury  township  embraces  Long  Branch,  the  famous 
watering-place.  Visitors  of  the  present  day  can  hardly  picture  the 
country  as,  in  its  wildness,  it  met  the  eyes  of  Brainerd  in  1749. 


1 86  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NEW  JERSEY  COLLEGE  COMMENCEMENT — JOHN  BEAINERD  TAKES  HIS 
MASTER'S  DEGREE — HIS  GRATITUDE — THE  REV.  MR.  .  POMROY — REV. 
SAMUEL  FINLEY. 

TtfEDNESDAT,  Sept.  27.— Set  out  with  Mr.  Ten- 
nent  for  Brunswick,  it  being  the  day  of  college 
commencement  there.  Had  opportunity  of  seeing  and 
conversing  with  many  of  my  friends  and  acquaintances, 
which  was  very  comfortable  and  refreshing.  The  Lord 
make  me  truly  thankful,  and  graciously  pardon  any  thing 
that  may  have  been  amiss  in  me,  or  wherein  I  may  have 
misimproved  the  opportunity! 

About  two  o'clock,  attended  upon  the  commencement 
exercises,  and,  after  the  disputations  were  over,  took  my 
Master's  degree  with  Mr.  Davenport,  Mr.  Finley,*  and 
Mr.  Green,f  which  was  given  me  gratis.  Oh  that  I 

*  The  Rev.  Samuel  Finley  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1715,  prepared 
for  the  ministry  at  the  Log  College,  and  was  licensed  by  the  Pres- 
Lytery  of  New  Brunswick  August  5,  1740.  He  was  a  zealous  revi- 
valist; was  prosecuted  for  irregular  preaching  in  New  Haven,  Conn., 
put  in  jail,  and  sent  out  of  the  colony  as  a  vagrant.  He  was  settled 
in  Nottingham,  Md.,  in  June,  1744,  and  remained  pastor  seventeen 
years.  He  there  established  a  famous  school,  and  counted  among  its 
pupils  Governor  Martin,  of  North  Carolina,  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McWhorter,  of  Newark,  and  Rev. 
James  Waddell,  of  Virginia.  He  was  elected  President  of  New 
Jersey  College  at  the  death  of  President  Davis. 

f  The  Rev.  Mr.  Green,  who  took  his  Master's  degree  with  Brain- 
erd,  was  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  father  of  the  Rev.  Ashbel  Green, 
D.D.,  late  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  born  at  Maiden,  Mass.,  in  1722, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  187 

may  have  grace  to  improve  this  and  every  advantage  I 
am  favored  with  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  Him  who  is 
the  giver  of  all! 

After  meeting,  spent  some  time  in  conversation  with 
one  and  another  of  my  dear  friends,  and  then  attended 
an  evening  lecture,  and  heard  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pomroy,  of 
Hebron,  in  Connecticut,  from  Exod.  xxxii.  10;  but,  be- 
fore he  had  proceeded  far  in  his  discourse,  I  was  called 
out  to  wait  on  the  Correspondents  and  to  give  them 
some  account  of  the  circumstances  and  affairs  of  the 
Indians  I  have  the  pastoral  charge  of;  which  being  done 
and  their  meeting  broke  up,  I  soon  returned  to  my  lodg- 
ings, and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening  in 
company  with  Mr.  Pomroy,  Mr.  Davenport,  and  Mr. 
Spencer,  and  after  some  conversation  attended  family 
and  secret  prayers,  but  was  very  cold  and  lifeless.  O 
Lord,  forgive  and  graciously  quicken  me  for  thy  mercy's 
sake! 

Thursday,  Sept.  28. — Waited  on  the  Governor,  having 
some  particular  business  with  him.  Spent  the  day  with 
the  ministers  and  other  gentlemen  of  my  acquaintance. 
Towards  night  took  leave  of  them,  and  came  home; 

graduated  at  Harvard  in  1744,  and  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  at 
South  Hanover  (now  Madison),  N.  J.,  in  1746.  He  was  a  faithful 
minister  and  warm  patriot.  Against  his  will  he  was  elected  to  the 
Provincial  Congress.  As  a  decided  abolitionist,  he  provoked  the  ma- 
lice of  slaveholders  around  him.  Dissatisfied  with  strict  Presbyte- 
rianism,  he  separated  himself  from  the  Synod  and  organized  Morris 
Presbytery,  of  which  he  was  the  head.  In  short,  he  was  as  remark- 
able for  ultraism  as  his  distinguished  son  Ashbel  was  for  conservatism 
in  Church  and  State.  But,  if  one  moved  in  an  eccentric  and  the  other 
in  a  regular  orbit,  both  were  equally  shining  orbs,  leaving  in  their 
track  a  broad  train  of  light  on  the  world.  The  memory  of  both  t 
father  and  son  id  blessed. 


1 88  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

was  informed  by  the  Mistress  that  several  Indians  had 
been  drunk,  and  that  one  family  had  gone  to  the  Mora- 
vians,* which  things  were  a  great  exercise  to  me.  Oh, 
how  distressing  it  is  to  have  the  charge  of  such  a  people ! 
How  much  need  have  I  of  Divine  support!  O  Lord,  I 
design  to  depend  on  thee  alone ;  I  am  not  able  to  bear 
this  people, — it  is  too  heavy  for  me !  Oh,  grant  me  Di- 
vine help  and  support,  suitable  to  bear  all  the  distressing 
difficulties  thou  knowest  I  labor  under,  and  let  me  have 
grace  and  wisdom  from  above  so  to  behave  under  all  my 
trials  that  I  may  be  an  honor  to  the  holy  religion  I  pro- 
fess and  the  character  I  sustain  among  these  poor  people. 
Attended  family  and  secret  prayers,  and  found  some 
relief  and  comfort  therein.  Blessed  be  the  Lord ! 

Friday,  Sept.  29. — Had  some  discourse  with  two  per- 
sons who  had  lately  come  into  town.      In  the  afternoon 

*  As  this  is  the  first  allusion  which  Brainerd  makes  to  the  Mora- 
vians, it  may  be  proper  to  caution  the  reader  on  a  few  points.  One 
class  of  Whitefield's  disciples,  in  their  enthusiastic  reliance  upon  the 
teaching  of  the  Spirit  and  distrust  of  dead  orthodoxy  and  cold  forms, 
had  assimilated  to  the  Moravian  modes  and  adopted  their  name. 
Whitefield  himself  was  supposed  to  lean  in  that  direction.  His 
friends  and  the  friends  of  truth  and  order  became  alarmed,  and  filled 
the  country  with  pamphlets  and  exhortations  against  the  errors  and 
moral  effects  of  the  Moravian  communities.  Imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  these  warnings,  Brainerd  approached  the  Moravian  settlements. 
As  he  had  no  confidence  in  their  orthodoxy  or  order,  but  regarded 
them  as  perverters  of  his  brother's  Indian  converts,  and  as  he  was 
entirely  ignorant  of  their  language  and  early  training,  it  is  no  won- 
der that  he  thought  "no  good  could  come  out  of  Nazareth,"  or  the 
Moravian  Bethlehem  itself.  There  was,  doubtless,  much  that  was 
puerile,  fanciful,  and  fanatical  among  the  early  Moravians;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  they  have  evinced  a  godly  sincerity,  a  Christian  ear- 
nestness and  benevolence,  which  for  more  than  one  hundred  years 
have  made  them  models  of  piety  and  martyrs  in  spreading  the  gos- 
pel. In  noting  their  defects,  we  must  not  overlook  their  virtues. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  189 

had  a  little  time  to  write,  but  was  diverted  by  a  Christian 
friend  who  came  in  to  see  me. 

As  I  came  into  the  town  from  a  visit,  I  heard  the 
noise  of  a  drunken  Indian,  which  was  affecting  to  me. 
Took  care  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  hurt  anybody, 
and,  when  I  had  seen  him  tied,  returned  home. 

Saturday,  Sept.  30. — Attended  morning  devotions,  and 
spent  some  time  in  discoursing  with  several  Indians,  espe- 
cially with  him  who  was  drunk  last  night.  In  the  after- 
noon rode  out  and  visited  a  poor  woman  who  had  lately 
lost  her  husband.  Found  her  very  sorrowful,  and  endea- 
vored to  administer  some  comfort  to  her.  Returned 
home  and  spent  some  time  in  studying,  and  in  the  even- 
ing attended  a  religious  meeting  with  my  people;  read 
and  explained  thirteen  verses  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth  chapter  of  Matthew,  and  made  some  practical 
improvement  of  the  same,  concluding  with  some  exhort- 
ation. The  Indians  attended  with  seriousness,  and  one 
or  two  discovered  considerable  feeling.  Returned  home; 
attended  family  and  secret  duties,  but  had  no  special  en- 
largement. 

Lord's  day,  Oct.  i. — Arose  something  later  than  usual 
this  morning,  and  first  of  all  endeavored  to  commend 
myself  to  God  in  secret,  and  beg  his  gracious  presence 
and  assistance  in  the  holy  duties  of  the  day.  Then  at- 
tended family  prayer,  and  retired  again  to  my  study,  and 
spent  a  considerable  part  of  the  morning  in  prayer.  In 
the  forenoon  preached  from  Isa.  i.  18,  but  had  no  great 
freedom  in  any  part  of  divine  service.  Notwithstanding, 
one  or  two  persons  were  considerably  affected.  In  the 
afternoon  preached  without  an  interpreter.  Very  diligent 

and  solemn  attention  was  given  to  the  word,  but  nothing 

T7 


I9o  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

else  remarkable  appeared  in  the  assembly.  Returned 
home;  took  some  refreshment,  and  again  convened  my 
people  together,  and  preached  to  them  from  Isa.  i.  19, 
2O ;  sundry  of  the  people  were  much  affected.  After 
meeting  discoursed  with  a  stranger  who  had  lately  come, 
being  one  of  that  company  of  Indians  to  whom  I  preached 
September  ist,  2d,  3d,  and  4th.  Two  more  also  of  that 
company  are  come  to  town,  and  as  yet  behave  well,  and 
seem  to  be  rationally  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  May  the  Lord  graciously  carry  on  this 
work  in  their  hearts !  Returned  home,  and  spent  some 
time  in  conversation  with  a  negro,  who  came  in  to  see 
me,  and  was  pleased  to  hear  him  express  so  much  of  the 
life  of  religion,  and  with  so  much  simplicity. 

Read  several  chapters  in  the  Bible,  and  afterwards  at- 
tended secret  devotions  with  some  freedom  and  comfort. 
Praised  be  the  Lord  for  all  his  goodness  to  me ! 

Monday,  Oct.  2. — Attended  family  and  secret  devo- 
tions, and  after  a  little  while  called  my  people  together, 
and  entertained  them  with  a  discourse  from  Luke  vii.  43, 
intending  the  next  day  to  set  out  on  a  journey  to  visit 
a  number  of  Indians  about  forty  miles  above  the  Forks 
of  the  Delaware;  and  after  I  had  explained  the  word, 
and  showed  that  it  was  my  duty  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
other  poor  Indians  as  well  as  to  them,  I  gave  them  some 
directions  how  to  behave  and  conduct  in  my  absence, 
and  earnestly  exhorted  them  to  behave  seriously  and  to 
live  like  Christians  one  with  another,  and  concluded  the 
meeting  with  prayer.  They  all  attended  very  seriously, 
and  several  persons  were  much  affected  with  what  they 
heard. 

Spent  the  remainder  of  the  forenoon  with  the  Indians. 
In  the  afternoon  came  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gilbert  and  Wil- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  191 

Ham  Tennent  to  my  house,  with  whom  I  spent  some 
time,  and  then  set  out  with  them  for  Princeton.  Went 
with  Mr.  W.  Tennent  to  Mr.  Hall's,  and  tarried  there 
all  night.  Spent  the  evening  in  conversation,  particularly 
endeavoring  to  make  up  a  breach  that  subsisted  between 
him  and  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Bainbridge,  and  we  were 
so  intent  upon  it  that  we  sat  up  till  after  midnight.  I 
felt  something  poorly  in  body,  but  it  pleased  God  to  give 
me  some  comfortable  sense  of  divine  things,  especially 
in  secret  devotions.  Praised  be  his  holy  name ! 

Tuesday,  Oct.  3. — Arose  pretty  early  this  morning; 
attended  family  and  secret  devotions,  then  took  leave  of 
Mr.  Hall  and  his  spouse,  and  proceeded  on  my  journey 
with  Mr.  Tennent.  Called  at  Justice  Stockton's,  but 
did  not  tarry  there,  but  went  forward  to  Maidenhead 
(Lawrenceville).  Came  to  Mr.  Bainbridge's,  hoping  to 
make  up  the  difference  between  him  and  his  son-in-law. 
Was  kindly  received,  and  treated  with  courtesy.  Had  a 
long  discourse,  and  some  encouragement  that  the  breach 
might  be  healed. 

Took  leave  of  Mr.  Bainbridge  and  his  wife,  and  went 
forward  to  Trenton,  and,  after  taking  some  refreshment, 
attended  the  Presbytery,  and  spent  the  afternoon  in  busi^ 
ness.  Rode  with  Mr.  McKnight  *  to  see  a  relation  of 
his,  and  tarried  there  all  night.  Was  very  poorly  in 

*  This  was  the  Rev.  Charles  McKnight,  pastor  of  the  church  of 
Cranberry  and  Allentown.  He  was  licensed  by  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery,  June  23,  1741,  and  installed  October  16,  1744.  April 
21,  1767,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Middletown  Point,  Shark  River,  and 
Shrewsbury,  Monmouth  county. 

He  was  captured  by  the  British  and  his  church  burned  in  the 
Revolution.  He  died  in  1778,  and  his  church  at  Shark  River  be- 
came extinct.  He  was  Brainerd's  nearest  clerical  neighbor  and  firm 
friend. 


192  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

body,  and  not  well  able  to  sit  up  long.      Attended  family 
and  secret  prayers,  and  went  to  rest. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  4. — Returned  to  town  again,  and  sat 
in  Presbytery  all  the  forenoon;  felt  sick,  but  was  able 
most  of  the  time  to  sit  in  Presbytery.  In  the  afternoon 
the  commission  of  the  two  Synods  of  York  and  Phila- 
delphia met,  to  endeavor  an  agreement  of  the  two  Synods. 
Spent  the  evening  with  the  commission  of  York  Synod, 
but  felt  very  poorly. 

Thursday,  Oct.  5. — Felt  much  out  of  health  this  morn- 
ing; notwithstanding,  being  appointed  to  preach  at  Am- 
well,  on  my  way  to  the  Forks,  I  took  leave  of  the  min- 
isters, and  arrived  at  Amwell  meeting-house  about  two 
o'clock.  P'ound  the  people  generally  gathered  together, 
and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  some  freedom  in  the 
various  parts  of  divine  service.  Forever  blessed  be  his 
holy  name ! 

After  service,  being  invited  by  Colonel  Reading,  I 
went  home  with  him  five  miles,  and  tarried  there  all 
night.  Was  treated  with  much  kindness  and  respect, 
and  was  well  pleased  with  my  entertainment.  Attended 
family  prayers.  Retired  to  my  lodging-room,  and  spent 
some  time  in  reading,  meditation,  and  secret  devotion, 
and  had,  I  hope,  some  real  sense  of  divine  things. 

Friday,  Oct.  6. — After  attending  family  and  secret 
duties,  took  leave  of  Mr.  Reading  and  his  family,  and 
carne  to  Mr.  Lewis',  at  Bethlehem.*  Spent  some  time 


*  Bethlehem  was  a  township  on  the  east  of  the  Delaware,  now  called 
Alexandria.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Lewis,  referred  to  in  the  journal,  was  a 
fellow-student  of  David  Brainerd,  graduating  at  Yale  College  in  1741. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRA1NERD.  193 

in  conversation  with  him  and  his  spouse ;  and  he,  having 
a  lecture  appointed  this  day,  urged  me  to  tarry  and  preach 
it,  which  I  did,  but  was  considerably  straitened  in  the 
several  parts  of  divine  service.  After  meeting,  returned 
to  Mr.  Lewis' ;  spent  the  evening  mostly  in  conversation 
with  him  and  several  neighbors  who  came  in,  and  after- 
wards attended  family  and  secret  prayers.  O  Lord,  par- 
don and  quicken  me  for  thy  mercy's  sake. 

Being  a  zealous  friend  of  the  Great  Revival,  like  Davenport,  Symmes, 
Allen,  and  others,  he  sought  to  escape  the  persecutions  of  Connec- 
ticut in  the  more  peaceful  borders  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  settled  in 
Bethlehem  October  14,  1747.  Subsequently  he  labored  at  Oxford, 
Hopewell,  N.  J.,  Smithtown,  L.  I.,  and  finally  settled  at  Mendham, 
N.  J.,  where  he  died  May,  1778. 

17* 


194  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PREACHES  AT  THE   FORKS — IRISH   SETTLEMENT — THE   CRAIGS — GNA- 
DENHUTTEN — HIS   IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE   MORAVIANS. 

&ATURD4T,  Oct.  7.— Took  leave  of  Mr.  Lewis  and 
his  spouse,  and  came  on  my  journey  to  the  Forks; 
but,  being  hindered  several  hours  at  the  ferry,*  did  not 
arrive  at  Mr.  Hunter's  till  after  sundown.  Was  very 
much  fatigued ;  but  it  pleased  the  blessed  Lord  to  make 
me  comfortable  in  mind,  and  to  give  me  much  freedom 
in  family  and  secret  duties.  Forever  praised  be  his  holy 
name! 

Lord's  day,  Oct.  8. — Spent  the  morning  mostly  in  medi- 
tation and  prayer ;  and  having  inquired  concerning  the 
Indians  that  used  to  live  here,  and  finding  that  they  were 
gone,  and  that  no  congregation  of  them  could  possibly  be 
had,  I  preached  to  the  white  people  both  parts  of  the  day. 
In  the  afternoon,  especially,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give 
me  very  comfortable  freedom  and  enable  me  to  press 
home  divine  truths  upon  the  hearers.  May  the  Lord 
bless  the  same  to  them  for  spiritual  and  saving  good ! 

After  meeting,  spent  some  time  in  prayer  to  God. 
Afterwards  attended  family  duties,  and  spent  some  time 
in  conversation  with  Mr.  Hunter  and  others;  but  felt 
poorly,  and  so  retired  to  my  lodging-room,f  the  same  that 

*  He  crossed  the  river,  probably,  at  a  place  called  Achen's  Ferry, 
in  Upper  Mt.  Bethel,  about  fifteen  miles  from  Easton. 

f  This  room  was  said  to  be  an  addition,  probably  of  logs,  to  lift 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  195 

my  dear  brother  David  used  to  lodge  in  when  he  preached 
to  the  Indians  in  the  Forks.  Read  several  chapters  in 
the  Bible,  and  attended  secret  devotions,  in  which  I  hope 
I  had  some  real  sense  of  eternal  things.* 

Monday,  Oct.  9. — Attended  morning  devotions,  and 
spent  some  time  in  conversation  concerning  the  Indians, 
designing  to  prosecute  my  journey  among  them  as  soon 
as  I  could;  but,  it  being  stormy,  was  obliged  to  tarry 
here  to-day.  Was  much  indisposed,  especially  in  the 
afternoon;  but  in  the  evening  felt  something  better,  and 
spent  some  time  in  prayer,  and  wrote  a  little. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  10. — Took  leave  of  Mr.  Hunter  and  his 
family,  and  proceeded  on  my  journey.  Called  at  one  of 
the  Moravian  settlements. f  Spent  some  time  in  conver- 
sation with  them,  especially  with  one  of  their  ministers. 
Tarried  and  dined  with  him,  and  was  treated  with  cour- 
tesy. After  dinner,  took  leave  of  them,  and  came  for- 
ward to  Mr.  Lawrence's  settlement,  but  found  him  not 
at  home.  Went  to  Captain  Craig's,  J  and  tarried  all 

house  of  the  good  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Easton,  Pa.  It  was  standing 
within  the  memory  of  aged  persons  who  died  a  few  years  ago. 

*  We  insert  in  the  Appendix,  marked  B,  a  communication  pre- 
pared at  our  request  by  Matthew  Henry,  of  Easton,  author  of  the 
"History  of  the  Lehigh  Valley."  He  was  fifty  years  with  the  Mo- 
ravians at  Bethlehem,  and  has  spent  his  whole  life  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Forks.  It  is  adapted  to  help  modern  readers  to  follow  the 
journeys  of  the  Brainerds  in  their  early  explorations  of  that  region. 

f  In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Henry,  the  historian  of  Lehigh  Valley, 
this  Moravian  settlement  was  Nazareth. 

%  Craig's  Settlement  and  the  Irish  Settlement  are  identical.  It 
was  a  name  derived  from  the  number  of  Irish  families  who  settled 
in  the  vicinity,  the  principal  of  whom  was  the  Craig  family.  The 
settlement  was,  it  is  supposed,  at  the  Lehigh  Water-Gap,  in  Allen 
township,  where  a  village  still  exists,  and  where  General  Craig,  of 


196  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRA1NERD. 

night.  Visited  the  Justice,  his  father,  in  the  evening. 
Returned  to  the  captain's ;  spent  some  time  in  reading, 
attended  family  prayers,  and  retired  to  my  lodging-room. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  1 1. — Took  leave  of  Mr.  Craig  and 
his  spouse  (having  been  treated  with  much  kindness  by 
them),  and  came  forward  on  my  journey,  and,  by  good 
providence,  found  a  man  who  lived  not  far  from  the  In- 
dian settlement  and  was  returning  home.  Joined  my- 
self to  him,  and  came  forward.  Spent  the  whole  day  in 
riding  about  twenty  miles,  it  being,  I  think,  the  worst 
road  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.*  Came  to  his  house,  as  I 
judged,  about  sundown,  it  being  rainy,  as  it  had  been 
most  of  the  afternoon.  Was  uncomfortable,  it  having 
been  a  cold,  raw  day.  Was  kindly  treated  by  the  man 
and  his  wife,  and,  after  I  had  taken  some  refreshment, 
was  more  comfortable.  Spent  some  time  in  reading  and 
conversation,  and  concluded  the  business  of  the  day  with 
family  and  secret  duties. 

Thursday,  Oct.  12. — Attended  family  and  secret  devo- 
tions. Took  leave  of  the  honest  man  and  his  wife,  and 
proceeded  on  my  way  towards  the  Indians,  and,  when  I 
came  to  them,  found  they  lived  in  the  same  town  with 
the  Moravians,  and  were  entirely  brought  into  their 
scheme  of  religion,  which  inwardly  grieved  me  and 
greatly  sunk  my  spirits,  especially  when,  in  conversation 
with  some  of  them,  I  saw  how  erroneous  and  enthusi- 


Revolutionary  memory,  died  in  1832,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
two.  He  must  often  have  heard  the  Brainerds  preach.  The  settle- 
ment was  the  starting-point  for  their  Susquehanna  journeys. 

*  He  crossed  the  first  range  of  the  Appalachian  chain.  Its  height 
is  from  twelve  to  sixteen  hundred  feet,  rough  and  rocky,  and,  being 
narrow  on  the  top,  the  sides  are  very  steep  and  precipitous. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  197 

astic  they  were  in  some  of  their  tenets.  However,  I 
spent  the  day  in  this  place,  which  the  Moravians  call 
Canatanheat,*  partly  in  conversation  with  them  and 
partly  with  the  Indians.  Visited  all  that  were  at  home, 
going  from  house  to  house,  but  had  very  little  satisfac- 
tion, fearing  that  they  were — many  of  them — poor  de- 
ceived creatures.  Discoursed  with  some  of  the  white 
people  as  well  as  the  Indians,  and  observed  their  man- 
ners and  behavior,  and  found  they  set  very  lightly  by 
verbal  prayer,  either  private  or  public,  saying  that  they 
always  prayed  in  heart,  that  they  very  little  saw  the  ne- 
cessity of  informing  the  understanding  in  the  doctrines 
of  religion,  dehorting  from  sin,  or  exhorting  to  the  ob- 
servation of  the  divine  commands  and  the  practice  of 
godliness,  saying  that  persons  must  be  told  to  believe  in 
and  love  [our  Saviour],  as  their  expression  always  is,  "to 
look  to  and  keep  close  to  him,  and  then  there  would  be 
no  danger,  but  they  would  certainly  be  directed  and  in- 
clined to  do  every  thing  right ;"  and  I  observed  farther, 
as  far  as  I  could  learn,  that  the  spring  and  foundation  of 
their  love  to  the  Saviour  was  because  he  suffered  and  died 
for  sinners,  and  them  in  particular,  which  I  endeavored 
to  detect  and  show  that  that  was  not  the  only  foundation 
or  the  prime  cause  of  a  true  believer's  love  to  God  and 
Jesus  Christ,  &c.  &c.  I  also,  in  my  discourse  with  one 
who  bears  the  character  of  a  minister,  endeavored  to  con- 
vince and  impress  upon  him  the  danger  of  deceiving  the 
poor  Indians  and  making  them  believe  that  they  had  an 
interest  in  Christ's  merits  when  they  have  never  expe- 
rienced a  change  of  heart,  for  I  obseived  that  they  made 

*  This  was,  doubtless,  Gnadenhiitten,  founded  by  the  Moravians 
in  1746.  It  was  situated  on  the  Mahoning  Creek,  near  the  Lehigh 
River,  about  three  miles  below  Mauch  Chunk  (Indian  Bear  Moun- 
tain), and  about  thirty  above  Easton. 


198  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIXERD. 

no  account  of  a  previous  work  of  the  law,  and  some  of 
the  Indians  told  me  they  had  not  been  under  any  special 
concern,  but,  after  they  were  baptized,  their  hearts  began 
to  love  our  Saviour,  and  one  of  them  told  me  his  heart 
was  quite  good,  quite  good  enough.  And  this  I  found  to  be 
the  case,  that  the  Moravians  would  tell  the  Indians  how 
Christ  died  and  suffered,  and  ask  them  whether  they  loved 
him  and  were  willing  to  be  baptized,  and,  if  they  assented, 
would  proceed  to  administer  the  ordinance  to  them,  and 
admit  them,  if  adults,  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  When  the 
evening  was  come,  the  bell  was  rung,  and  the  whole  so- 
ciety called  together  to  attend  divine  worship,  upon  which 
I  also  attended.  They  first  sung  one  or  two  short  hymns 
in  the  German  language,  then  one  of  them  took  a  text  of 
Scripture  and  spoke  upon  it  perhaps  near  a  quarter  of  an 
hour;  after  this  they  sung  a  hymn,  and  concluded  with 
a  very  short  prayer;  and  this  I  found  was  all  they  pre- 
tended to  do,  either  public  or  private.  I  could  not  but 
be  affected  at  the  slight  these  people  put  upon  prayer  to 
God,  and  felt  an  inward  desire  to  retire  alone  and  pour  out 
my  soul  to  him ;  which  I  did,  and  it  pleased  the  gracious 
Lord  to  give  me  considerable  freedom  and  enlargement. 
Blessed  be  his  holy  name !  After  this,  had  some  further 
conversation,  and  concluded  the  day. 

Friday,  Oct.  13. — Arose  early  this  morning,  and  retired 
for  secret  devotion ;  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  some 
freedom  at  the  throne  of  grace.  Not  long  after,  the  whole 
society  was  again  called  together  by  the  ring  of  the  bell, 
and  the  service  of  this  morning  consisted  only  in  singing 
a  short  hymn  or  two,  and  a  few  words  spoken  to  the 
people,  which  I  understood  was  the  more  usual  way,  and 
that  they  rarely  joined  prayer  with  them.  After  this, 
was  invited  to  breakfast,  at  which  there  was  no  appear- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR-AINERD.  199 

ance  of  a  blessing  asked  or  thanks  returned,  even  so 
much  as  in  a  mental  way.  Soon  after  breakfast  was 
over  I  took  leave  of  the  Moravian  Brethren,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  my  journey ;  rode  up  the  west  branch  of  the 
Delaware*  a  little  way,  and  came  to  two  Indian  wig- 
wams, in  which  were  several  Indians,  though  some  were 
gone  from  home.  Some  of  the  Indians  were  turned  to  the 
Moravians,  but  three  or  four  of  them  were  not  yet  brought 
over.  With  these  I  spent  considerable  time,  discoursing 
with  them  in  the  best  manner  I  could,  and  got  the  pro- 
mise of  one  or  two  of  them  to  come  and  see  me  at  our 
Indian  settlement  in  the  Jerseys,  and  then  took  leave  of 
them,  leaving  them  to  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God. 
Then  I  proceeded  on  my  journey.  Rode  between  fif- 
teen and  twenty  miles  to  visit  a  number  of  Indians  that 
lived  near  a  great  hill,  called  the  Blue  Mountain. f  Spent 
some  time  in  conversation  with  such  of  them  as  I  found 
at  home,  and  found  that  the  most  of  them  were  baptized 
by  the  Moravians,  and  brought  into  their  interest.  This 
made  me  despair  of  doing  any  considerable  good  among 
them ;  so,  after  some  conversation,  I  took  leave  of  them 
for  the  present  (it  being  now  evening),  and  went  to  the 
house  of  a  High-Dutchman,  being  the  nearest  and  best 
I  could  find,  and  there  lodged.  The  man  could  speak 
a  little  broken  English,  but  his  wife  did  not  know  one 
word.  Their  not  being  able  to  understand  English  ren- 
dered my  circumstances  very  difficult,  and,  besides,  they 
were  extremely  poor.  After  I  had  made  the  best  pro- 
vision I  could  for  my  horse,  &c.,  I  retired  for  secret 

*  Brainerd  means  the  Lehigh  River.  Lehigh  in  Indian  means 
Fork.  The  river  was  so  called  as  the  Fork  of  the  Delaware. 

f  This  was  the  Kittany  Mountain,  called  still  m  the  neighborhood 
the  Blue  Mountain  from  its  appearance  in  the  distance,  looking  from 
the  east  upon  it. 


200  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR41NERD. 

prayer,  in  which  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  some  en- 
couragement in  the  midst  of  my  difficulties;  then  I  came 
into  the  house  and  got  something  for  my  refreshment, 
and  after  some  time  returned  again  and  prayed.  Then 
came  into  the  house,  and,  when  we  had  sat  some  time, 
endeavored  to  make  the  man  understand  something  about 
God  and  the  propriety  of  family  prayer  before  we  lay 
down  to  sleep,  but  could  not,  by  all  the  signs  I  could 
make,  give  him  to  understand  any  thing  of  it.  So,  en- 
deavoring to  commit  myself  to  God,  lay  down  on  some 
straw  that  I  had  provided,  and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to 
grant  me  considerable  refreshment  by  sleep.  Praised  be 
his  holy  name  for  all  his  kindness  toward  me ! 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  201 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CROSSES  THE  BLUE  MOUNTAIN — MR.  LAWRENCE  VISITS  BETHLEHEM — 
MR.  BRAINERD'S  DISCUSSIONS. 

SATURDAY,  Oct.  14. — Arose  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and,  when  I  had  taken  my  breakfast,  bid  fare- 
well to  the  family,  and  visited  the  Indians  again,  and 
spent  some  time  with  them.  Found  two  of  the  Mora- 
vian Brethren,  who  came  the  evening  before  and  had 
been  with  them  all  night;  after  some  time  spent  with 
them  and  the  Indians,  took  leave  of  them  all  except  one 
of  the  Brethren,  who  came  forward  with  me.  With 
some  difficulty  passed  over  the  great  mountain  yester- 
day, on  horse,  which  is  by  far  the  highest  and  most  diffi- 
cult I  ever  crossed.  From  thence  I  came  to  the  Irish 
Settlement,  on  the  west  branch  of  the  Delaware.  Went 
to  Mr.  Craig's,  and  there  found  Mr.  Lawrence,*  he 
being  just  returned  from  his  journey.  Spent  some  time 
in  conversation  with  him. 


*  The  Rev.  Daniel  Lawrence  was  born  in  Long  Island,  in  1718, 
studied  at  the  Log  College,  and  was  licensed  at  Philadelphia,  May 
28,  1745.  He  began  his  labors  at  the  Forks  of  Delaware  (Easton), 
May,  1746,  and  was  installed  the  third  Sabbath  in  June,  1747.  The 
Forks  north  and  the  Forks  west,  fifteen  miles  apart  and  embracing 
the  country  between,  was  the  field  of  his  labors.  His  health  failed, 
and  in  1751  he  removed  to  Cape  May,  but  was  not  installed  before 
1754.  He  died  April  13,  1766. 

Being  of  the  same  age  and  similar  sentiments,  his  presence  in  that 
wild  region  must  have  greatly  clmered  his  friend  Br.tiiierd. 

18 


202  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Lord's  day,  Oct.  15. — Soon  after  I  arose,  retired  for 
secret  prayer,  and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  some  con- 
siderable freedom  therein.  Blessed  be  his  holy  name ! 
Spent  the  morning  partly  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Law- 
rence, and  partly  in  meditation.  About  eleven  o'clock 
attended  public  worship,  and,  at  Mr.  Lawrence's  dis- 
cretion, carried  on  divine  service.  Had  some  freedom 
in  prayer,  but  not  so  much  in  preaching,  especially  in 
the  first  part  of  my  discourse ;  but  towards  the  close, 
especially  in  the  applicable  part,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to 
give  me  some  deep  feeling  of  divine  truths,  and  some 
assistance  in  pressing  the  great  and  solemn  truths  of  the 
gospel  on  the  minds  of  the  audience.  May  the  Lord  set 
home  his  word  upon  their  conscience  with  divine  power! 
In  the  afternoon,  heard  Mr.  Lawrence  from  John  xiv.  19, 
in  which  he  seemed  to  speak  with  some  life  and  power. 
After  meeting,  came  to  Mr.  Craig's  with  Mr.  Lawrence. 

Monday,  Oct.  16. — Spent  some  time  with  a  number 
of  people  who  came  from  home  (Bethel)  about  the  same 
time  with  me,  with  a  design  to  hunt  in  those  parts;  and 
had  I  been  seconded  in  my  undertakings,  and  found  any 
number  of  persons  together  who  were  not  brought  into 
the  Moravian  scheme,  they  (the  Bethel  Indians)  would 
have  been  with  me.  But,  my  design  being  frustrated, 
most  of  my  other  people  (being  about  fifteen  in  number) 
went  no  farther  than  Mr.  Lawrence's  upper  settlement, 
and  were  there  when  I  returned  from  my  journey  above. 
With  those  I  spent  most  of  the  forenoon,  conversing 
with  them  and  instructing  them  as  I  thought  proper,  and 
so  took  leave  of  them  for  the  present ;  and  in  the  after- 
noon rode  with  Mr.  Lawrence  to  Bethlehem,*  having  a 

*  Bethlehem  was  founded  by  the  Moravian  Brethren  in  1741.     It 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  203 

desire  to  get  some  further  acquaintance  with  the  Mora- 
vians. When  we  came  there,  we  were  received  with 
kindness  and  treated  respectfully.  Had  considerable  con- 
versation with  two  or  three  of  them,  though  several  of 
their  principal  men  happened  to  be  out  of  town.  After 
some  time,  with  as  much  decency  and  candor  as  I  could, 
touched  upon  some  matters  of  faith ;  but  they  seemed 
much  to  dislike  speaking  in  a  way  of  dispute,  and  when 
any  thing  was  proposed  would  handsomely  wave  it,  and 
endeavor  to  say  as  little  as  possibly  they  could.  How- 
ever, from  what  they  did  say  I  was  abundantly  confirmed 
that  they  held  those  errors  referred  to  in  my  journal  of 
Thursday  last,  and  from  their  discourse  I  could  not  but 
fear  they  worshipped  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  for  I 
never  heard  the  name  of  God  once  mentioned  among 
them,  and  that  they  did  not  really  believe  the  morality 
of  the  Sabbath.  For,  as  I  discoursed  with  them  con- 
cerning the  day  to  be  kept,  they  said  they  looked  upon 
the  seventh  day  to  be  the  proper  day ;  upon  which  I  said 

comprised  five  hundred  acres.  Its  schools  have  obtained  a  high 
reputation,  a.id  the  entire  Moravian  community  sustain  an  excellent 
character  for  industry,  neatness,  probity,  and  true  religion.  It  must 
also  be  said  that  in  their  records  they  have  spoken  kindly  of  both 
the  missionary  Brainerds.  In  Heckwcldcr's  Narrative,  under  date 
of  1747,  he  says: — 

"  About  this  time  the  Brethren  [Moravian]  also  paid  a  visit  to  the  Rev'd  David  Braincrd, 
missionary  to  the  Indians  in  New  Jersey,  and  rejoiced  at  the  success  with  which  that  faith- 
ful servant  of  God  had  been  blessed  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Indians;  and  some  time 
after  this,  that  worthy  man,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  converts,  visited  both  Bethlehem 
and  Gnadenhutten,  much  to  his  satisfaction." 

We  have  also  received  from  the  records  of  the  Moravian  Commu- 
nity at  Bethlehem  the  following  notice  of  this  visit  of  Brainerd  and 
Lawrence: — 

"  October  27,  1749. — Mr.  John  Braincrd  arrived  here  to-day,  in  company  with  Mr.  Law- 
rence, the  Irish  minister  who  lives  in  the  Forks.  Mr.  Brainerd  has  been  at  Gnadenhutten 
and  Meniolagomikok,  visiting  the  Indians.  He  also  examined  them  in  religious  matters. 

"  October  28. — Mr.  Brainerd  left ;  and  he  showed  himself  very  friendly,  and  was  cordial 
in  his  manner." — Bethlehem  Diary,  1749. 


204  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

I  thought  it  was  not  essential  to  religion  which,  but  that 
one  ought  to  be  kept  holy,  and  no  work  ought  to  be 
done  upon  it  but  what  was  of  absolute  necessity ;  and  I 
thought  we  ought  every  day,  and  in  all  our  actions,  aim 
at  the  glory  of  God ;  yet  if  God  had  reserved  one  day  in 
seven  peculiarly  for  himself,  it  should  be  devoted  more  to 
his  immediate  service?  To  this  they  made  no  reply. 

When  the  evening  was  come,  I  retired  for  secret  prayer, 
and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  comfort  and  refresh  my  soul  in 
this  holy  duty.  Blessed  be  his  holy  name !  After  some 
time  I  attended  on  their  evening  service,  which  consisted 
in  singing  hymns*  and  speaking  about  five  or  six  minutes 
to  the  people.  When  we  came  to  the  house  where  we 

*  The  Germans  are  poetic  and  musical,  and  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Moravian  Community  they  employed  hymns  in  worship  which 
they  would  not  tolerate  at  the  present  day.  We  have  in  our  posses- 
sion a  book,  entitled  "A  Collection  of  Hymns,  compiled  chiefly  from 
the  German.  London.  Printed  for  James  Hutton,  Bookseller,  in 
Fetter  Lane.  MDCCXLIX."  It  purports  to  be  a  standard  Mora- 
vian hymn-book.  The  first  article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  in 
rhyme,  with  a  prayer  attached,  we  give : — 

HYMN  1. 

Tune — The  Saviour's  Blood  and  Righteousness. 
ARTICLE    I. 

1  I  do  believe,  that  in  Heaven's  throne  Dwells  one  Divine  being  alone! 
Who's  called  (as  he  himself  explains),  And  truly  is,  God,  and  remains 

2  Of  like  duration  of  pow'r  one,  As  God  our  Father,  God  the  Son, 
And  God  the  Holy  Ghost  likewise.     This  three  one  Divine  being  is, 

3  Which  is  eternal,  without  parts,  Immense,  Almighty  Pow'r  exerts; 
His  Mission  ne'er  can  measured  be,  Nor  fathom'd  his  Benignity. 

4  Maker,  Preserver  of  as  well  Things  unseen  as  the  visible, 

By  the  word  Person  is  expressed,  No  piece  divided  from  the  rest, 

5  Nor  some  mere  property,  which  may  Itself  in  different  kind  display, 
The  Church  by  Person  understands,  What  by  itself  subsisting  stands. 

PRAYER. 

O  holy,  blessed  Trinity  !     God  Father !     Warring  under  thee  ! 

God  the  Holy  Ghost !    Thou  being  guide,  I  with  God's  Son  go,  side  by  side. 

We  give  also  the  thirty-sixth  hymn  entire: — 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  205 

were  to  lodge,  I  questioned  those  who  came  with  me  why 
they  did  not  pray  at  their  meeting,  inasmuch  as  we  receive 
all  from  God,  and  entirely  depend  on  him,  why  they  did 
not  acknowledge  him?  The  answer  was,  that  they  did 
pray  publicly  sometimes,  when  it  was  the  mind  of  our 
Saviour.  I  questioned  them  further,  but  had  no  satisfac- 
tion. Afterwards,  in  discourse,  one  gave  me  to  under- 
stand that  they  believed  assurance  to  be  the  essence  of 
faith,  or,  that  there  was  no  true  believer  but  knew  that 
he  was  so.  I  took  occasion  to  let  him  know  that  I  did 
not  believe  what  he  said,  but  another  replied  that  they 
did  not  incline  to  dispute  the  point.  Several  other  things 
were  proposed  to  them  in  way  of  discourse,  which  they 
waved;  so  it  was  difficult  to  know  what  their  sentiments 
were  in  many  points.  Thus  we  spent  the  evening,  and 
finally  were  shown  our  lodging-room. 

Thursday,  Oct.  17. — Arose  early  this  morning,  and  en- 
deavored to  commit  myself  to  God  by  prayer,  and  was 


HYMN  XXXVI. 

Tune — Elder  of  thy  Train. 
I  Dear  Church,  art  them  well,  In  the  side  Hole's  cell  >. 

Art  thou  other  places  scorning,  At  thy  rising  in  the  morning? 

Hid  within  the  Shrine  Of  this  wound  divine  I 
2.  Dost  thou  know  the  hand  Of  thy  dear  husband  >. 

Hast  thou  been  so  well  all  over,  That  thy  eyes  the  bliss  discover, 

And  this  day  by  day  ?     Canst  thou  Amen  say.' 

3  Really  that  Hole  dear,  Open'd  by  the  spear, 

Always  Room  enough  is  given,  That  we  all  may  there  be  living; 
And  who  will  be  well  Must  come  in  this  cell. 

4  Husband  of  Thy  She  (Banished  once  from  Thee), 

But,  through  Thy  most  holy  Passion,  Purchas'd  out  of  every  Nation, 
From  all  curse  and  fear,  Stand  her  Husband  dear! 

I  think  intelligent  readers  of  the  nineteenth  century  will  decide 
that  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd  wars  affected  by  the  prejudices  of  his 
age  and  party  in  his  criticism  on  the  Bethlehem  Brethren;  hut,  from 
the  specimen  we  have  given  of  Moravian  hymns,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  was  much  in  the  Brethren  to  deserve  criticism. 

1  *fi 


206  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD. 

going  with  Mr.  Lawrence  to  attend  the  Moravian  ser- 
vice; but,  as  we  were  going  towards  the  house,  we  per- 
ceived that  worship  was  over.  Upon  which  we  returned 
to  the  house  again,  and  had  some  further  conversation 
with  two  or  three  of  them.  After  breakfast,  we  took  a 
walk  with  one  who  conducted  us  into  the  town  to  view 
the  buildings,  &c.  Went  into  their  place  of  worship, 
viewed  the  organs  that  were  played  there,  and  several 
other  things.  Among  the  rest  saw  a  writing,  in  very 
large  letters,  placed  over  the  minister's  seat,  which  was 
written  in  the  German  language.  I  desired  him  who 
conducted  us  to  explain  it,  which  he  did,  as  near  as  I 
can  remember,  to  this  effect:  "0  wounds  (meaning  the 
wounds  of  our  Saviour),  preserve  us,  thy  people,  and  me,  in 
particular!"  So,  after  we  had  viewed  every  thing  that 
was  curious,  we  returned  to  the  house  where  we  had 
lodged ;  and,  hearing  of  a  number  of  Indians  who  lived 
about  three  miles  down  the  river,*  I  had  a  mind  to  make 
them  a  visit.  We  rode  to  see  them.  I  found  they  were 
Indians  whom  I  had  some  time  ago  been  acquainted 
with,  for  several  of  them  had  lived  a  considerable  time  at 
our  Indian  town  in  Cranberry,  and  went  from  thence  be- 
cause one  of  the  men  had  a  mind  to  put  away  his  own 
wife  and  take  another  woman,  and  I  could  by  no  means 
allow  it,  and  reproved  him  because  he  would  leave  his 
wife  and  go  and  lodge  in  the  same  house  where  this 
other  woman  lived.  Finally  they  went  off  together,  and 
several  more,  near  relations,  with  them.  With  these  I 
had  considerable  discourse,  and  found  they  were  all  bap- 
tized by  the  Moravians,  although  they  appeared  to  me  to 
be  the  same  poor,  carnal  creatures  that  they  were  when 
they  went  from  the  Indian  town. 

*  This  place  is  now  called  Skinnersville,  near  Frccmansburg. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRA1NERD.  207 

In  discourse  with  them,  I  found  the  Moravians  had 
changed  their  names,  although  all  except  one  had  Scrip- 
ture names  before.  I  asked  them  why  they  changed 
their  names ;  and  one  of  them  said  that  the  Moravians 
said  they  had  those  names  in  sin,  and  they  would  not 
have  them  now  when  they  were  come  to  be  Christians, 
and  that  Jesus  Christ  gave  them  a  new  name.  After 
this,  I  asked  them  if  they  came  also  to  the  Lord's  table. 
They  said,  "Yes."  I  inquired  if  they  understood  the 
nature  of  the  ordinance.  They  were  light  and  vain  even 
while  I  was  speaking  of  this  most  solemn  institution  of 
Christ,  which  surprised  and  much  affected  me.  How- 
ever, I  found  by  what  they  said  that  they  were  taught  to 
believe  the  real  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  that 
they  did  absolutely  eat  and  drink  Christ's  body  and  blood. 
I  endeavored  to  show  them  the  absurdity  and  impossi- 
bility of  it,  and  observed  that  these  elements  were  only 
a  sign  or  representation  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  and 
not  really  and  substantially  so ;  and,  withal,  they  had 
need  take  care  how  they  approached  that  holy  ordinance, 
for  such  as  come  unworthy  eat  and  drink  their  own  dam- 
nation ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  it  would  be  much  worse 
for  them  than  if  they  had  stayed  away.  So,  after  I  had 
discoursed  some  considerable  time,  I  invited  them  to 
come  and  see  me,  which  they  promised  they  would  do, 
at  Cranberry,  and  so  took  leave  of  them ;  being  in  heart 
affected  at  their  miserable,  blinded  condition.  May  the 
Lord  have  mercy  on  them  for  Christ's  sake ! 

Returned  to  the  Moravian  town,  called  and  took  leave 
of  the  Brethren,  and  returned  with  Mr.  Lawrence  to  Mr. 
Craig's.*  Took  some  refreshment,  and  then,  according 


*  Craig's  Settlement  was  about  seven  miles  from  Bethlehem  north, 
and  three  miles  from  the  present  town  of  Catasanqua. 


208  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

to  my  appointment,  went  to  see  a  number  of  my  people 
mentioned  yesterday,  proposing  the  next  morning  to  set 
out  on  a  journey  homeward ;  but  they  proposed  to  tarry 
a  while  longer  in  these  parts,  and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to 
give  me  very  comfortable  freedom  in  speaking  to  them 
from  Phil.  i.  27,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  divine  service. 
Many  of  the  white  people  were  present. 

After  the  meeting  was  over,  took  leave  of  the  Indians, 
it  being  now  considerably  in  the  evening,  and  returned  to 
Mr.  Craig's  with  Mr.  Lawrence,  and  had  very  comfort- 
able freedom  in  private  and  family  devotions.  Praised  be 
the  Lord  for  all  his  goodness  of  this  day ! 

Wednesday,  Oct.  1 8. — Spent  the  forenoon  with  Mr. 
Lawrence,  the  weather  being  stormy ;  but  in  the  after- 
noon, the  storm  having  abated,  took  leave  of  him  and 
other  friends,  and  came  to  Mr.  Hunter's,*  upon  the 
north  branch  of  the  Delaware,  in  the  evening. 

Thursday,  Oct.  19. — After  attending  religious  duties, 
took  leave  of  Mr.  Hunter's  family,  and  came,  in  com- 
pany with  him,  to  Mr.  Henry's,  at  Greenwich. f  Dined 
there,  and  then  proceeded  on  my  journey,  and  came  to 
Mr.  Lewis',  at  Bethlehem.  Spent  an  evening  with  him, 
and  attended  family  and  secret  prayers,  but  had  no  special 
freedom. 


*  At  Aken's  Ferry.  Mr.  Alexander  Hunter  was  a  native  of  the 
North  of  Ireland,  a  sound  Presbyterian.  He  settled  at  Upper  Mt. 
Bethel  in  October,  1730.  Being  an  educated  man,  he  was  made  one 
of  the  first  magistrates  of  the  county  in  1747  or  1748.  He  was  a 
man  of  large  influence  in  his  day. 

f  Greenwich  township  lies  opposite  Easton.  The  church  was  about 
three  miles  from  the  river.  There  is  still  a  flourishing  Presbyterian 
congregation  on  the  spot.  Its  present  edifice  is  the  third  one. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  209 

Friday,  Oct.  20. — After  duties  of  the  morning  were  at- 
tended, took  leave  of  Mr.  Lewis  and  his  spouse,  and  came 
on  my  journey  to  Hopewell.  Went  to  Mr.  Paine's,  and,  it 
being  near  night,  lodged  there.  Spent  the  evening  mostly 
in  religious  conversation,  and  had  very  comfortable  out- 
goings of  soul  in  family  and  secret  duties.  Blessed  be 
the  Lord  ! 

Saturday,  Oct.  21. — Arose  early  this  morning.  Took 
leave  of  Mr.  Paine  (his  family  not  being  up),  and  came 
to  Mr.  Alling's.  Attended  family  duties,  and  took  break- 
fast with  him,  and  then  proceeded  on  my  journey.  Dined 
at  Mr.  Stockton's,  in  Princeton.  Came  home  a  little  be- 
fore sundown,  and  found  my  people  generally  well,  though 
two  or  three  were  sick.  The  Lord  be  praised  for  all  his 
goodness  to  me  on  my  journey,  and  to  my  people  in  my 
absence ! 

Called  them  all  together,  and,  after  friendly  salutation, 
carried  on  divine  service  among  them,  in  which  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  give  me  very  comfortable  freedom.  Ex- 
plained a  part  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  Matthew  from  the 
beginning.  The  Indians  were,  many  of  them,  much 
affected. 

Lord's  day,  Oct.  22. — Attended  secret  and  family  de- 
votions, and  then  retired  again,  and  spent  the  remainder 
of  the  morning  in  meditation  and  prayer.  Attended  public 
worship  at  special  time,  but  had  no  considerable  enlarge- 
ment in  any  part  of  divine  service.  Preached  from  Matt, 
ix.  12,  13;  yet  two  or  three  persons  seemed  to  be  much 
affected  and  really  concerned  for  their  souls.  Oh  that 
God  would  carry  on  the  work  which  he  has  so  graciously 
begun  in  their  hearts  till  they  become  lovingly  acquainted 
with  himself! 


210  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

In  the  afternoon,  preached  without  an  interpreter,  and 
it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  freedom  in  the  several 
parts  of  divine  service.  There  seemed  to  be  a  very 
solemn  and  devout  attendance  on  the  worship  of  God, 
and  considerable  concern  in  one  or  two  interpreters. 

Monday,  Oct.  23. — Visited  one  of  my  people  who  had 
been  taken  ill  the  day  before.  Spent  some  time  in  con- 
versing with  him,  and  afterwards  prayed  with  him ;  then 
came  home.  Spent  some  time  in  writing  and  praying, 
and  did  some  business  of  a  secular  nature. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  24. — Arose  early  this  morning,  and  at- 
tended family  and  secret  duties.  Spent  some  time  in  the 
forenoon  in  particular  business ;  afterwards  had  a  little 
time  to  write.  In  the  afternoon,  spent  some  time  with 
a  Christian  friend  who  came  to  see  me.  After  him, 
came  in  a  woman  of  my  congregation,  who  seemed  to  be 
much  oppressed  in  mind.  I  inquired  into  the  reason  of 
it,  and  found  it  was  because  she  had  been  out  of  temper 
and  even  angry  at  something  that  occurred  in  my  ab- 
sence, which  she  confessed  with  as  much  sorrow  and 
brokenness  of  heart  as  I  think  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  It 
was  very  affecting  to  hear  her  speak  of  what  she  had 
been  guilty  of,  and  to  see  the  distress  and  anguish  of  her 
soul :  I  think  I  never  saw  any  person  more  deeply  affected 
with  the  death  of  the  dearest  relation  than  she  seemed  to 
be  at  this  time  and  on  the  account  before  mentioned. 
She  desired  me  to  pray  with  and  for  her,  which  I  did, 
and,  after  some  further  discourse,  dismissed  her.  Then 
visited  a  sick  man,  and  endeavored  to  have  some  dis- 
course with  him,  but  could  get  him  to  say  but  little. 
After  this,  visited  a  poor  woman  who  has  been  in  a  low 
condition  for  a  long  time  ;  had  some  discourse  with  her 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  211 

and  her  husband,  keeping  them  in  mind  of  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence  towards  them,  and  that  they  should 
labor  to  be  resigned  to  his  holy  will  and  to  have  a  sanc- 
tified hope  of  the  effective  dispensations  of  God.  After- 
wards spent  some  time  in  writing,  and  concluded  the 
business  of  the  day  with  prayer. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  25. — Attended  to  some  secular  busi- 
ness, and  spent  the  remainder  of  the  forenoon  mostly  in 
writing.  In  the  afternoon,  visited  the  sick  man  men- 
tioned yesterday ;  had  some  considerable  discourse  with 
him,  although  he  was  not  now  so  free  to  talk  as  I  could 
have  desired ;  then  prayed  with  him,  in  which  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  give  me  some  comfortable  enlargement. 

Spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  part  of  the  even- 
ing in  removing  my  household  goods  from  the  place  where 
I  had  lived  hitherto,  about  half  a  mile,  to  a  place  which 
the  Master  and  I  bought  to  commode  the  mission ;  it 
being  dangerous  to  live  on  the  Indian  land,  by  reason  of 
the  proprietors  who  lay  claim  to  it,  and  we  having  now 
a  little  house  built  outside. 

Thursday,  Oct.  26. — Went  on  with  the  business  I  had 
begun  last  night,  and  spent  the  whole  day  in  fitting  up 
the  house  and  setting  the  things  in  order.  In  the  even- 
ing, convened  my  people,  and,  after  prayer  and  singing, 
entertained  them  with  a  discourse  from  Isa.  xlix.  15,  16, 
in  which  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  good  freedom, 
and  it  was  also,  I  trust,  a  comfortable  season  to  some 
of  my  hearers. 


212  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRA1NERD. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


GOVERNOR  BELCHER  AND   HIS  LADY  VISIT  MR.  BRAINERD  —  HIS  SERMON 
ON   THE  OCCASION.* 


,  Oct.  27.  —  Governor  Belcher  having  sundry 
times  manifested  a  desire  of  coming  and  seeing  the 
Indians,  and  his  purpose  of  doirig  it  upon  his  return  from 
Amboy  to  Burlington,  f  at  the  rising  of  the  Assembly, 
I  thought  it  my  duty  to  wait  upon  his  Excellency,  and, 
hearing  that  he  desired  to  leave  Amboy  this  day,  after 
family  and  secret  devotions,  set  out  for  that  place,  and 
met  the  governor  about  a  mile  on  this  side  of  the  town. 
As  soon  as  I  had  opportunity  to  speak  with  him,  I  found 
he  desired  to  be  at  Rev.  Mr.  W.  Tennent's  that  night, 
and  the  next  day  visit  the  Indians,  and  I  must  wait  upon 
him  the  round  ;  which  I  did,  and  arrived  at  Mr.  Ten- 
nent's a  little  after  sundown.  Spent  the  evening  mostly 
in  conversation,  but  felt  poorly  in  body,  having  a  pain  in 
my  head,  and  yet  comfortable  in  mind. 

Saturday,  Oct.  28.  —  Attended  family  and  secret  devo- 
tions, and  tarried  till  after  two  o'clock;  it  being  very 
stormy,  spent  the  time  mostly  in  conversation  with  the 
governor,  Mr.  Tennent,  etc.,  and  then,  the  storm  being 

*  This  visit  of  the  governor  was  a  great  event  in  the  life  of  the 
secluded  missionary,  and  he  marks  his  estimate  of  the  honor  hy  the 
seriousness  and  particularity  of  his  description. 

f  Burlington  was  at  this  time  the  seat  of  government  of  New 
Jersey. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  213 

something  abated,  set  out  for  home.  But,  the  weather 
being  so  uncomfortable,  did  not  attend  a  religious  meet- 
ing as  usual,  but  spent  the  evening  mostly  in  reading, 
meditation,  and  prayer. 

Lord's  day,  Oct.  29. — Attended  the  religious  duties  of 
the  morning,  and  then  spent  some  time  in  my  study,  but 
had  not  much  freedom  in  private  devotions.  At  the  usual 
time  attended  divine  worship  in  public,  and  preached  both 
parts  of  the  day  from  Matt.  viii.  35.  The  Indians  as  well 
as  the  white  people  attended  seriously,  but  nothing  re- 
markable appeared  in  the  assembly. 

After  meeting,  visited  a  woman  that  seemed  to  be  near 
her  end ;  conversed  with  her  as  much  as  I  could  by  rea- 
son of  her  weakness,  and  prayed  with  her.  Then,  taking 
leave  of  her,  returned  home,  took  some  refreshment,  and 
then  visited  another  sick  person.  Conversed  some  time, 
and  prayed  with  her  j  and,  after  we  had  sung  a  hymn,  re- 
turned home,  and  attended  family  and  secret  prayers,  in 
which  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  some  comfortable 
freedom  and  refreshment.  Blessed  be  the  Lord ! 

Monday,  Oct.  30. — Took  care  to  make  some  provision 
to  receive  the  governor,  he  having  appointed  this  day  to 
make  a  visit  to  the  Indians.  After  I  had  put  things  in 
some  order,  sat  down  to  study,  being  expected  to  preach 
to  the  Indians  before  the  governor.  About  twelve  o'clock, 
waited  upon  his  Excellency  and  Madam  Belcher,  his  con- 
sort. Mr.  Tennent  and  his  spouse,  and  many  others,  at- 
tended the  governor ;  and,  after  a  little  time,  I  called  the 
Indians  all  together,  and  preached  by  an  interpreter  from 
Matt.  xi.  23,  in  which  I  had  comfortable  freedom ;  and 
when  I  had  a  little  explained  the  words,  raised  these  two 
propositions: — I.  That  those  who  enjoy  the  means  of  .grace 


214  LIFE    OF    JOHN   BRAINERD. 

and  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  are  highly  honored  and  privi- 
leged of  God;  2.  That  those  who  abuse  or  misimprove 
such  precious  privileges  make  themselves  awfully  guilty  be- 
fore God,  and  procure  to  themselves  the  most  sore  and  dread- 
ful judgments;  viz.,  "  Those  w  ho  enjoy"  etc.  1st.  lob- 
served  it  was  a  great  honor,  because  ordained  and  sent  by 
the  most  honorable  Being,  viz.,  by  the  great  God;  2d. 
Because  the  proposals  are  most  honorable  in  their  own 
nature.  It  was  a  great  privilege,  because  thereby  we 
were  taught  to  know  God  and  how  to  love  and  glorify 
him ;  (2)  because  we  are  taught  our  perishing  condition, 
and  how  we  may  obtain  deliverance  and  recovery  there- 
from ;  (3)  because  we  are  thereby  taught  those  things, 
and  the  way  to  make  ourselves  happy  in  this  world ;  (4) 
we  are  taught  those  things  which  make  us  comfortable 
in  death  and  completely  and  eternally  happy  in  the  next 
world. 

And  as  to  the  second  proposition,  viz. :  "  That  those 
who  abusej'  etc.,  I  inquired  when  persons  might  be  said 
to  improve  the  gospel  aright,  and  when  to  abuse  it.  (i) 
When  they  don't  accept  of  the  Lord  as  he  is  offered  in 
the  gospel;  (2)  when  they  don't  square  their  lives  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  gospel ;  (3)  when,  instead  of 
being  humble  and  thoughtful  for  such  blessed  privileges, 
they  are  lifted  up  with  pride  and  forgetful  of  their  duty 
to  devote  themselves  to  God.  When  it  is  thus  with  the 
people,  the  means  of  grace  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel 
are  abused,  but  rightly  improved  when  the  contrary  is 
true. 

And  as  to  the  punishment  inflicted  on  those  who  abuse 
the  means  of  grace,  it  would  be  as  near  as  it  could  be  to 
conform  to  the  dignity  of  the  Being  offering  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  mercy  offered,  and,  consequently,  unspeak- 
able and  eternal.  Then  I  proceeded  to  some  improve-. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  215 

ment.  (i)  A  use  of  examination, — that  all  should  exa- 
mine how  they  had  improved  the  gospel,  etc.  j  (2)  of  ex- 
hortation to  all  to  make  a  wise  and  faithful  improvement 
of  the  precious  privileges  they  were  favored  with ;  and 
of  the  honor  done  them  by  God,  and  by  man  also,  with 
relation  to  the  governor's  visit  among  them.  The  Indians, 
and  many  friends,  were  much  affected ;  and  after  meet- 
ing, taking  some  refreshments,  the  governor,  his  lady, 
etc.  walked  through  the  town,  to  visit  the  Indians  and 
see  their  town  and  dwellings.  I  waited  upon  them,  and 
returned  a  little  after  sundown.  Spent  the  remainder  of 
the  evening  in  conversation  with  the  governor  and  others, 
and  had  something  of  freedom  in  holy  duties.  O  Lord, 
I  thank  thee  for  all  thy  goodness  to  me  !  * 

Tuesday,  Oct.  31. — Arose  early  this  morning,  and  at- 
tended religious  duties.  Waited  on  the  governor,  with 
Mr.  McKnight  and  sundry  others,  about  twenty  miles. 
Dined  with  his  Excellency,  and  waited  upon  him  and  his 
lady  till  they  had  mounted  a  chaise  to  go  to  Burlington. 
Took  leave  of  them,  and  returned  home  in  the  evening ; 
then,  after  having  attended  family  prayer,  retired  to  my 
lodging-room,  attended  secret  devotion,  and  went  to  rest. 

Wednesday ',  Nov.  i. — Arose  early;  wrote  a  little,  and 
in  the  afternoon  attended  the  funeral  of  a  woman,  and 
had,  I  hope,  some  sense  of  divine  things  in  speaking  to 
the  people  and  in  prayer.  May  the  Lord  bless  what  was 

*  Mr.  Brainerd's  sermon  before  the  governor,  which,  from  the  im- 
portance of  the  occasion,  he  saw  proper  to  record,  is  certainly  not 
remarkable  for  either  originality,  point,  or  power;  but  it  had  the 
grand  excellence  of  faithfulness  and  truth.  It  is  the  simple  gospel. 
His  use  of  the  governor's  visit  as  a  motive  to  honor  the  gospel  is  a 
little  strained,  but  with  the  Indians  might  be  telling. 


216  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD. 

spoken  to  the  benefit  of  the  hearers !  Returned  home, 
and  spent  the  evening  mostly  in  settling  accounts  with 
the  Master  and  some  other  secular  business. 

Thursday,  Nov.  2. — Attended  religious  duties  in  family 
and  secret.  Spent  the  day  in  transcribing  my  journal  for 
Scotland;  in  the  evening  attended  a  religious  meeting, 
designing  to  have  catechized  as  usual,  but,  my  interpreter 
being  absent,  I  could  not  proceed;  so  I  spent  the  time 
in  giving  them  some  familiar  and  easy  instructions,  con- 
cluding with  exhortation  and  prayer.  Visited  also,  this 
evening,  two  sick  persons, 

Saturday,  Nov.  4. — Attended  holy  duties  this  morning, 
but  was  in  a  great  measure  lifeless.  The  Lord  mercifully 
guide  and  quicken  me  by  his  Holy  Spirit ! 

Spent  most  of  the  day  in  writing  my  journal ;  but  in 
the  evening  attended  a  religious  meeting  with  mv  people, 
and  explained  part  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  Matthew, 
concluding  with  some  exhortations.  It  pleased  the  Lord 
to  give  me  something  of  freedom,  but  no  special  enlarge- 
ment. 

Lord's  day,  Nov.  5. — Spent  the  time  before  meeting 
mostly  in  prayer  and  meditation;  attended  public  wor- 
ship at  the  usual  time.  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  had  free- 
dom in  the  several  parts  of  the  divine  service !  Preached 
both  parts  of  the  day  from  John  xiv.  19.  Extraordinary 
attention  was  given  to  the  word  by  the  white  people  as 
well  as  the  Indians,  and  several  persons  were  greatly 
affected  with  divine  truths.  Toward  evening,  met  again. 
Requoted  some  of  the  words  of  my  preceding  discourse, 
and  had  considerable  enlargement.  I  have  reason  to 
think  that,  through  the  grace  of  God,  it  has  been  a  re- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  217 

freshing  season  to  some  of  God's  dear  people;    and  to 
his  holy  and  blessed  name  be  all  the  glory ! 

Returned  home,  and  spent  some  time  in  writing.  At- 
tended family  and  secret  duties. 

Monday,  Nov.  6. — Attended  morning  devotions,  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  writing  my  journal  for 
Scotland.  In  the  evening  was  troubled  with  evil  thoughts, 
and  in  my  attendance  on  holy  duties,  especially  in  secret, 
I  was  something  broken  and  distracted.  The  Lord  par- 
don and  graciously  deliver  me  for  Christ's  sake ! 

Tuesday,  Nov.  7. — Between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock 
called  my  people  together,  it  being  the  Quarterly  Day  of 
Prayer,*  and,  when  I  had  reminded  them  of  the  great- 
ness and  solemnity  of  the  business  we  were  come  upon, 
made  one  prayer.  I  preached  a  discourse  from  Gal.  vi. 
9 ;  after  which  we  spent  some  time  in  prayer.  Several 
of  the  Indians  prayed,  who  seemed  to  be  much  affected ; 
but  nothing  remarkable  appeared  in  the  assembly. 

*  Quarterly  Concert  of  Prayer  on  the  plan  of  President  Edwards. 

19* 


2i 8  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

VISITS   ELIZABETHTOWN — HIS   LABORS   THERE. 

TtfEDNESDdT,  Nov.  8.— Set  out  on  a  journey  to 
Elizabethtown.  Visited  Mr.  Arthur,  at  Brunswick, 
and  Mr.  Richards,*  of  Rahway,  and  arrived  at  Mr.  Wood 
ruff's  in  the  evening.  After  a  little  while,  I  went  with 
him  and  Mr.  Spencer  to  see  a  man  who  was  truly  sup- 
posed to  be  near  his  end.  Had  some  discourse  with  him, 
though  he  was  not  able  to  say  much,  and  afterwards  prayed 
with  him.  Returned  to  Mr.  Woodruff's,  and  spent  the 
rest  of  the  evening  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Spencer. 

Thursday,  Nov.  9. — Spent  the  day  mostly  in  transcrib- 
ing my  journal  for  Scotland.  Attended  on  evening  ser- 
vice, and  preached  from  John  xii.  26,  but  had  very  little 
sense  of  divine  things,  which  was  exceeding  distressing 
to  me ;  but  in  the  last  prayer  was  more  comfortable. 

Returned  to  Mr.  Woodruff's,  and  felt  very  poorly  in 
soul  and  body;  afterwards  had  some  relief  by  secret 
prayer.  Blessed  be  God ! 

Friday ,  Nov.  10. — Went  with  Mr.  Spencer  to  Newark, 
to  see  Mr.  Burr,  with  whom  I  had  considerable  business. 

*  The  Rev,  Aaron  Richards,  of  Rahway,  graduated  at  Yale  in  1743, 
and  was  ordained  by  the  New  York  Presbytery  in  1719.  Throughout 
his  life  he  was  harassed  by  hypochondria:  still,  he  was  a  good  man, 
and  ended  his  life  peaceably,  May  lf>,  1793,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of 
his  ministry  and  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  219 

Tarried  with  him  till  about  one  o'clock,  and  then  came 
to  Elizabethtown  and  attended  the  funeral  of  the  man 
mentioned  yesterday,  at  which  I  felt  very  solemn  and 
impressed. 

Lord's  day,  Nov.  12. — Was  something  composed  in 
morning  duties,  but  had  no  special  enlargement;  was 
also  poorly  in  body,  and  felt  faint. 

Attended  public  worship  at  the  stated  time,  and  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  give  me  freedom  and,  I  trust,  some 
real  sense  of  divine  things.  Preached  on  a  funeral  sub- 
ject, and  endeavored  to  suit  my  discourse  in  some  mea- 
sure to  the  circumstances  of  the  sorrowful  widow  the 
funeral  of  whose  husband  I  had  lately  attended.  After 
some  intermission,  attended  divine  worship  again,  and  it 
pleased  the  gracious  Lord  to  give  me  much  enlargement  in 
preaching  his  dear  and  blessed  gospel,  and  in  other  parts  of 
divine  service.  Baptized  a  child,  and  had  much  freedom 
in  prayer  previous  to  that  holy  ordinance.  May  God 
sanctify  the  opportunity  of  this  holy  day  to  the  living 
good  and  benefit  of  his  people ! 

After  meeting,  came  to  Mr.  Woodruff's,  and  endea- 
vored to  pour  out  my  soul  to  God  for  a  blessing  on  his 
word  in  this  and  other  places,  and  that  he  would  merci- 
fully please  to  make  and  keep  me  humble. 

In  the  evening,  visited  a  dear  friend ;  then  went,  with 
Mr.  Woodruff,  to  see  the  sorrowful  widow  mentioned  in 
the  forenoon,  and  found  her  in  a  sweet,  comfortable,  and 
Christian  frame.  Was  much  refreshed  in  conversation. 

Returned  to  Mr.  Woodruff's,  and  transcribed  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Philip  Doddridge.  The  Lord  has  made  this  day 
comfortable  to  my  soul.  Forever  blessed  be  his  holy 
name!  My  people  were  supplied  by  Mr.  Spencer,  who 
tarried  with  them  Sabbath  over  in  my  stead. 


220  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

Monday ,  AW  13. — Attended  religious  duties;  then 
took  pains  to  gather  some  money  among  my  friends  to 
help  a  poor  Indian  who  was  cast  into  prison  for  debt. 
Had  some  success.  Afterwards  took  leave  of  my  friends, 
and  came  out  of  the  town. 

Dined  at  Mr  Pierson's,  and  proceeded  on  my  journey. 
Visited  the  poor  Indian  above  mentioned  in  prison,  and 
gave  him  some  good  advice,  and  so  came  forward;  but, 
being  hindered  at  the  ferry,  did  not  get  home  till  some  time 
in  the  evening.  Some  time  after  I  came,  was  informed 
by  the  Master  that  several  of  the  Indians  had  been  drunk 
in  my  absence,  and  had  fought  to  such  a  degree  that  one, 
in  all  likelihood,  would  have  been  killed  had  he  not  been 
rescued.  This  greatly  sunk  my  spirits.  Alas!  it  seemed 
to  me  as  if  all  would  come  to  nothing ;  and  my  heart  was 
discouraged  within  me.  I  fell  down  before  the  Lord,  and 
it  pleased  him  to  help  me  to  open  my  cause  to  him ;  and, 
blessed  be  his  name,  I  found  some  relief. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  221 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


JOHN  BRAINERD'S  PASTORAL  LABORS  —  HIS  TRIALS  —  HIS  CONSECRATION 
-  END  OF  DIARY  —  ITS  CHARACTER. 


,  Nov.  14.  —  Attended  holy  duties  this  morn- 
ing with  something  of  freedom  ;  afterwards  had  op- 
portunity to  discourse  with  two  of  the  Indians  who  had 
lately  been  drunk.  They  seemed  to  be  convinced  of  their 
folly,  and  discovered  considerable  sorrow  for  it,  but,  I  ha\  e 
reason  to  fear,  will  do  the  same  again  the  first  opportunity. 
The  Lord  grant  it  may  be  otherwise  ! 

Spent  some  time  in  taking  care  of  temporal  business, 
and,  towards  the  close  of  the  day,  rode  to  Freehold,  de- 
signing to  visit  a  number  of  my  people  who  were  still  at 
the  medicinal  springs.  Went  to  Dr.  Le  Count's,  and 
rhere  spent  the  evening  in  pleasant  and  edifying  conver- 
sation and  in  family  and  secret  duties. 

Wednesday,  Nov.  15.  —  After  the  performance  of  holy 
duties,  took  leave  of  the  doctor  and  his  spouse,  and  came 
to  the  place  where  the  Indians  lived.  Found  one  in  a 
low  condition,  and  had  little  expectation  that  she  would 
ever  recover.  Had  considerable  discourse  with  her,  but 
found  that  she  was  under  some  darkness,  although  I  trust 
she  is  truly  gracious  ;  then  prayed,  in  which  it  pleased 
the  Lord  to  give  me  freedom. 

Took  leave  of  them  for  that  time,  and  rode  to  the 
court-house,  having  some  business  in  the  court  relating 
to  the  Indians,  but  could  not  accomplish  it.  Came  to 


222  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

Mr.  Tennent's,  and  tarried  with  him  all  night.  Spent 
the  evening  mostly  in  conversation,  but  was  exceeding 
low  in  spirits  and  had  little  freedom  in  holy  duties.  The 
ill  circumstances  and  ill  behavior  of  some  of  my  poor 
people,  and  the  difficulties  that  living  among  them  is  at- 
tended with,  are  often  very  painful  and  depressing,  and 
were  so  this  evening.  May  the  Lord  help  me  to  behave 
like  a  Christian  under  all  afflictions  and  difficulties ! 

Thursday,  Nov.  1 6. — Spent  the  forenoon  with  Mr. 
Tennent,  it  being  rainy  and  uncomfortable  weather.  In 
the  afternoon  set  out  for  home.  Did  some  business  of  a 
temporal  nature  on  the  way,  and  came  home  in  the  even- 
ing. Spent  some  time  in  reading,  and  was  more  com- 
fortable than  I  had  been  in  family  and  secret  duties. 
May  the  Lord's  holy  name  be  forever  praised ! 

Friday,  Nov.  17. — Was  obliged  to  spend  much  time  in 
temporal  affairs ;  but  in  the  afternoon,  the  Master  having 
permission  to  ride  out,  I  kept  the  school. 

Saturday,  Nov.  18. — Attended  family  and  secret  duties 
this  morning,  but  had  no  special  enlargement.  Oh  that 
the  Lord  would  help  me,  and  graciously  quicken  me  by 
his  Holy  Spirit,  that  I  might  always  live  and  act  for  him ! 

Visited  one  of  my  poor  people  (a  professor)  who  had 
been  out  of  the  way  with  drink,  and  found  him  in  great 
distress  on  that  account.  Discoursed  with  him  a  consi- 
derable time,  and  could  not  but  be  deeply  affected  with 
his  condition,  and  yet  could  not  but  inwardly  rejoice  to 
see  him  sensible  of  the  wrong  he  had  done  to  God  and 
the  reproach  he  had  brought  upon  religion. 

There  are  two  or  three  Indians  who  make  a  profession 
of  religion  who,  alas !  have  of  late  been  overtaken  with 


LIFE   OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  zz3 

drink,  which  has  given  me  awful  apprehension  concerning 
them,  and  God  only  knows  the  event ;  but,  oh,  may  the 
Lord  save  his  cause  from  reproach  and  them  from  finally 
falling  away  !  It  has  been  sometimes  like  death  to  me ; 
I  know  not  how  to  bear  up  under  the  weight  of  it.  But 
God  (forever  adored  be  his  holy  name)  has  hitherto  helped 
me,  and  will,  I  trust,  still  be  my  helper.  As  to  the  rest, 
their  behavior  has  been  comfortable,  although  there  have 
been  some  slips  among  some.  I  have  often  thought  of 
the  apostle's  words,  and,  I  trust,  felt  the  weight  of  them, 
I  Thess.  iii.  8:  "For  now  we  live,  if  ye  standfast  in  the 
Lord"  It  has  been  life  to  me  to  see  their  good  beha- 
vior ;  and  the  contrary  has  sometimes  seemed  more  bitter 
than  death. 

Spent  the  remainder  of  the  forenoon  in  conversing 
and  discoursing  with  my  people.  In  the  afternoon,  spent 
some  time  in  endeavoring  to  inform  myself  concerning 
the  foundation  of  the  Indian  language,  intending  to  learn 
it.  Had  considerable  discourse  with  a  young  man  about 
eighteen  years  old,  an  J  could  not  but  entertain  some  hope 
that  he  had  undergone  a  saving  change.  In  the  evening 
called  my  people  together,  and  explained  and  applied  a 
portion  of  Holy  Scripture  that  I  thought  was  suited  and 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  we  were  under.  There  was 
serious  attention. 

Returned  home,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening 
in  reading  my  brother's  Life  (having  lately  obtained  the  book], 
and  God,  I  trust,  made  it  profitable  to  me.  Attended 
family  prayers,  and  afterwards  sat  up  till  twelve  o'clock. 
Spent  the  time  in  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer;  had 
longing  desires  after  holiness,  and  inwardly  covenanted 
to  be  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  blessed  God.  Oh, 
when  shall  it  once  be !  Come,  dear  Lord  Jesus !  come 
quickly ! 


224  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Lord's  day,  Nov.  19. — Had,  I  hope,  some  real  sense 
of  God  and  divine  things  in  holy  duties.  Oh  that  God 
would  daily  increase  the  same ! 

Attended  public  worship,  and  it  pleased  the  Lord,  I 
humbly  trust,  to  give  me  some  assistance  in  the  various 
parts  of  it.  Preached  in  the  forenoon  from  Psalm  cxix. 
136;  in  the  afternoon,  without  an  interpreter,  from  John 
xiv.  19.  The  Indians  as  well  as  the  white  people  (a 
number  of  whom  were  present)  gave  good  attention  to 
the  word  spoken,  but  nothing  very  special  appeared  in 
the  assembly.  I  had  much  sweetness  and  comfort  in  my 
soul  this  day,  especially  in  the  afternoon.  Blessed  be  the 
gracious  Giver! 

After  I  came  home,  felt  much  sweetness  and  calmness 
in  my  soul,  and  so  through  the  evening  earnestly  desired 
to  be  wholly  devoted  to  God  and  perfectly  free  from  sin. 
Oh,  how  sweet  is  such  a  feeling!  Oh,  how  much  does 
it  surpass  all  that  the  world  can  possibly  afford !  May  I 
ever  live  with  and  for  the  blessed  God !  May  I  wholly 
die  to  all  sublunary  things,  and  be  wholly  wrapt  up  in  the 
joy  that  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.  May  I  live 
upon  those  glimpses  that  I  hive  of  Christ,  or,  rather,  on 
Christ  himself  while  I  have  but,  as  it  were,  a  glimpse  of 
him,  till  I  shall  come  to  the  beatific  vision  and  full  frui- 
tion of  him  in  the  blessed  heavenly  world ! 

Monday,  Nov.  2O. — Felt  some  earnest  desire  to  give 
away  myself  to  God,  if  the  Lord  would  graciously  accept 
of  me,  abundantly  qualify  me  for  his  service,  and  make 
me  an  instrument  of  his  praise  and  glory. 

Spent  the  forenoon  in  reading  and  writing;  in  the 
afternoon  was  obliged  to  ride  out  upon  some  temporal 
business,  which  took  me  till  some  time  in  the  evening. 
Felt  much  indisposed  after  I  came  home,  but  in  an  hour 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD,  225 

or  two  was  much  better.  Attended  family  prayer,  and 
afterwards  read  in  the  Bible,  in  which  I  had  considerable 
comfort,  as  also  in  secret  duties.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  f 
Oh  that  I  could  wholly  and  forever  be  devoted  to  his 
service ! 

Tuesday,  Nov.  21. — Attended  holy  duties  in  family 
and  secret.  Oh,  how  apt  is  my  poor  heart  to  warp  off 
and  wander  from  the  blessed  God !  Oh,  'tis  most  affect- 
ing that  I  should  wander  from  him,  who  is  in  himself 
the  best  good  and  only  satisfying  portion  of  my  soul ! 
Oh,  when  shall  I  be  delivered  from  this  body  of  death, 
and  drop  this  world's  earthly  chains  and  fetters ! 

Was  obliged  to  spend  this  day  in  hard  labor,  excepting 
that  I  read  a  little  in  the  Bible  in  the  morning,  and  in  the 
evening  composed  a  letter  to  a  friend.  My  little  affairs 
of  a  temporal  nature  being  much  out  of  order  by  reason 
of  my  being  absent,  and  being  exceedingly  crowded  with 
other  business  since  my  return,  I  had  no  time  to  do  any 
thing,  scarcely,  as  a  preparation  for  the  winter;  and  hav- 
ing tried  to  procure  some  help,  but  being  unsuccessful,  I 
am  obliged  to  do  it  myself. 

I  was  exceedingly  troubled  for  a  little  while  this  day 
with  evil  thoughts,  for  which  I  desire  to  be  humbled  be- 
fore God,  and  even  to  hate  and  abhor  myself;  but  soon 
had  some  deliverance.  Blessed  be  God !  Though  I  had 
no  realizing  sense  of  the  wrong  done  to  God,  or  of  his 
goodness  to  me,  till  the  evening,  then  it  pleased  the  Lord 
to  give  me  an  humbling  sense  of  it,  and  an  earnest  desire 
to  be  free  from  this  body  of  sin  and  death.  The  Lord 
help  me  to  keep  a  more  strict  watch  over  my  heart  for 
the  future,  and  mercifully  strengthen  me  against  all  tempt- 
ations ! 

Spent  the  evening  partly  in  reading  the  Bible,  and  partly 

20 


226  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

in  reading  my  brother's  Life,  and  could  not  but  be  affected  at 
my  own  extreme  barrenness  and  nonconformity  to  God.  I 
saw  that,  although  he  was  an  imperfect  man,  I  was  very 
short  of  being  what  he  was  and  doing  what  he  did,  which 
made  me  ashamed  to  look  up.*  However,  I  trust  I  had 
some  real  desire  to  devote  my  all  to  God,  and  both  in 
family  and  secret  devotions  had  comfortable  outgoings 
of  the  soul  to  God.  Blessed  be  his  holy  name !  Oh 
that  the  same  might  be  increased  day  by  day ! 

End  of  Diary,  November  21,  1749. 

Thus  ends  the  daily  journal  of  this  eminently 
pious  young  man.  It  is  but  a  fragment;  it  was 
written  only  for  his  own  eye,  and  barely  escaped  de- 
struction with  his  other  papers.  It  is  often  repe- 
titious and  tedious  in  detail.  But  we  could  not 
consent  to  pass  it  over,  nor  even  abridge  it;  for, 
with  all  its  imperfections,  there  is  something  in  it 
which  will  deeply  interest  every  true  Christian 
heart  longing  for  holiness  and  communion  with 
God.  It  presents  a  most  perfect  exhibition  of  the 
hidden  life  of  a  devout  and  holy  missionary  of  the 
Cross.  It  confirms  a  saying  common  in  Haddam, 
the  native  town  of  the  two  brothers,  that,  "al- 
though not  so  great  a  man,  John  Brainerd  was  as 
holy  as  his  brother  David."  In  each  there  was  the 
name  profound  humility,  prayerfulness,  activity, 
self-denial,  and  longing  for  Christian  perfection. 

*  The  marked  influence  of  David's  biography  on  the  heart  of  John 
indicates  how  entirely  they  sympathized  in  their  aspirations  for  holi- 
ness and  in  their  zeal  to  do  good. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  227 

If  David's  journal  develops  a  wider  range  of 
thought  and  a  more  graphic  power  of  language, 
it  is  also  shaded  with  a  deeper  sadness,  from 
which  the  diary  of  his  brother  is  relatively  free, 
I  think  our  missionaries  in  the  field  will  see  much 
in  John  Brainerd's  diary  to  remind  them  of  their 
own  experiences  and  to  stimulate  their  self-deny- 
ing labors.  He  speaks  to  them  over  a  lapse  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  years  as  a  pioneer  in 
their  great  work;  and  in  communion  with  his 
spirit  they  will  realize  that,  by  his  example,  he 
is  still  with  them  as  an  elder  brother. 


228  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4IXERD. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  SCOTCH  SOCIETY  -  MR.  BRAINERD's 
FULL  REPORT  —  HIS  EVENTFUL  JOURNEY  —  HIS  LABORS,  PERILS,  AND 
OBSERVATIONS. 


difficulty  of  constructing  a  continuous  nar- 
rative of  Mr.  Brainerd's  life  and  labors  has 
induced  us  to  prefix  the  date  of  each  successive 
year,  and  throw  under  it  such  fragments  concern- 
ing him  as  time  has  left.  In  this  way  we  shall 
glean  up  many  insulated  facts  which  would  other- 

wise be  lost. 

1750. 

In  this  year  we  have  no  other  record  of  Mr. 
Brainerd's  life  than  a  few  hints  in  the  reports  of 
the  Society  in  Edinburgh.  They  say:  — 

"At  a  meeting  held  in  Edinburgh,  on  22d  March, 
1750,  letters  were  read  from  the  New  York  Correspond- 
ents, in  which  the  Society  was  recommended  to  augment 
Mr.  Brainerd's  salary,  on  account  of  his  frequent  and 
long  journeys.  This  recommendation  the  Society  at  its 
next  meeting  declined,  on  account  of  the  low  state  of  the 
funds." 

Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  date  Edinburgh,  $th  January, 

1751. 

"The  Committee  reported,  that  they  have  received 
letters  from  the  Society's  correspondents  at  New  York, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  229 

and  from  Azariah  Horton,  one  of  the  missionaries  among 
the  infidel  Indian  natives  upon  the  borders  of  that  and 
neighboring  province,  with  journals  of  the  said  Mr.  Hor- 
ton from  to  and  of  Mr. 
John  Brainerd  from  to  , 
which  journals  are  put  into  the  hands  of  members  for 
their  perusal,  and  thereafter  to  be  put  into  some  proper 
hand  in  order  to  compose  a  short  narrative  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel  in  those  foreign  parts.  That  the 
Committee  have,  for  the  encouragement  of  these  foreign 
missionaries,  allowed  them  to  draw  for  their  salaries  each 
half-year,  and  have  ordered  the  payment  of  six  pounds, 
the  half-year's  allowance  for  boarding  and  educating  one 
of  the  young  Indians  at  the  new-erected  College  of  New 
Jersey.  In  the  said  letter  from  the  Correspondents  at 
New  York,  they  renew  their  request  for  an  augmentation 
of  the  salary  of  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  propose  an  applica- 
tion to  be  made  to  the  General  Assembly  for  a  national 
collection  for  the  benefit  of  the  said  new  college.  The 
General  Meeting,  having  heard  the  said  report,  approved 
of  the  above-mentioned  order  for  payment  of  the  foreign 
missionaries'  salaries  each  half-year,  as  also  of  the  above 
allowance  for  the  young  Indian,  and  remit  to  the  Com- 
mittee to  do  with  respect  to  the  augmenting  Mr.  Brain- 
erd's  salary  as  they  see  cause." 

Minutes  of  id  November,  1752. 

"The  Society,  upon  the  recommendation  from  London 
in  respect  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  great  fatigue  and  expense  in 
his  mission,  augmented  his  salary  from  ^£40  to  £50." 

The  death  of  Rev.  David  Brainerd  is  noted  in 
the  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  1748. 
The  name  of  John  Brainerd  is  entered  the  same 

20* 


230  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

year,  and  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  allowed  to  sit 
as  a  correspondent.  In  1749  and  1750,  Brainerd 
seems  to  have  been  absent  from  the  Synod. 

1751. 

This  year  Mr.  Brainerd  was  enrolled  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,*  at  the  Synod 
meeting  in  Newark ;  and  was  henceforth  until  late 
in  life  seldom  absent. 

We  have  procured  from  Edinburgh  the  follow- 
ing letter,  which  will  show  how  Mr.  Brainerd  was 
employing  himself: — 

To  the  Reverend  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  President  of  the  Cor- 
respondent Commissioners  from  the  Honorable  Society  in 
Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge. 

Journey  to  Wyoming. 
REV'D  SIR:— 

After  the  account  given  in  my  last,  which  concluded 
with  April  22d,  I  continued  with  the  people  of  my  charge 
residing  at  Bethel,  in  New  Jersey,  one  Sabbath,  and  car- 
ried on  the  worship  of  God  among  them  as  usual.  The 
Wednesday  following  I  convened  them  together  again  for 
divine  worship,  and,  being  about  to  take  a  long  journey, 
entertained  them  with  such  instructions  and  exhortations 
as  I  thought  would  be  most  for  their  benefit  and  edifica- 
tion. The  next  day,  having  visited  some  of  my  people, 
and  being  visited  by  them  in  general,  I  took  leave  of 
them,  and  set  out  in  the  afternoon  with  a  design  to  visit 
the  Indians  living  on  Susquehanna  and  parts  adjacent. 


Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  p;-..  23(>, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  231 

Leaving  my  people  to  the  care  of  the  schoolmaster,  who 
was  to  reside  constantly  on  the  spot,  and  expecting  also 
to  have  my  place  supplied  most  if  not  all  the  time  by  the 
neighboring  ministers,  on  Saturday  evening  following  I 
arrived  at  the  Forks  of  Delaware;  being  much  retarded 
in  my  journey  by  having  a  horse  to  lead,  that  was  much 
laden  with  provisions  for  the  journey. 

At  this  place  I  tarried  three  days,  partly  to  procure 
some  more  provisions  for  my  journey,  in  which  I  pro- 
posed to  be  out  about  three  months,  and  partly  to  visit  a 
number  of  my  people  who  for  some  time  past  have  lived 
in  these  parts  and  attended  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lawrence,  among  whom  I  hoped  to  procure  one  to  go 
with  me  as  an  interpreter. 

On  Wednesday,  May  the  yth,  I  set  out  with  my  inter- 
preter for  Susquehanna,  and  the  next  Saturday  evening 
we  arrived  at  an  Indian  town  on  that  river,  called  Wha- 
womung,  the  same  mentioned  in  my  journal  last  year.  I 
had  a  very  fatiguing  journey  to  this  place,  being  obliged 
to  travel  almost  the  whole  day  on  foot  by  reason  of  the 
almost  impassable  mountains,  and  the  horses  being  deeply 
bden  with  provisions  for  our  long-intended  journey. 
When  I  came  to  the  town,  the  people  generally  came 
together,  seeming  glad  to  see  me,  and  treated  me  with 
more  courtesy  and  kindness  than  I  expected,  which  was 
a  great  comfort  to  me  after  my  tiresome  and  tedious 
travel.  I  had  not  been  in  town  long  before  I  understood 
that  there  was  an  army  from  the  Six  Nations,  who  were 
upon  a  march  with  a  design  to  fight  the  Catawba  Indians, 
who  live  on  the  borders  of  South  Carolina.* 

*  These  people  have  been  at  war  one  with  another  for  many  years 
together,  and  frequently  commit  the  most  cruel  barbarities  one  upon 
another;  but  at  a  late  treaty  between  the  Governor  of  York  and 
Commissioners  from  sovoral  provinces  on  the  continent  and  the  Six 


z3 2  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

An  Indian  Dance — Frightful  Gestures. 

In  the  evening,  these  Indians  gathered  to  one  place, 
where  they  held  a  martial  dance,  and  such  an  one  as  in- 
deed was  almost  terrible  to  behold.  The  manner  of  the 
dance  was  as  follows.  There  was  a  post  set  up,  about 
seven  or  eight  feet  high,  painted  in  spots  with  red,  and 
on  the  top  of  it  was  fixed  a  bunch  of  feathers.  Near  by 
it  was  a  fire,  and  not  far  off  sat  two  Indians,  one  with  a 
small  drum  and  the  other  with  a  gourd  of  rattles  in  each 
hand,  with  which  they  made  a  continual  noise.  The  In- 
dians placed  themselves  in  a  great  circle  round  them  all, 
and  jumped  round  with  great  swiftness  as  one  man,  or  as 
though  they  had  been  framed  together ;  sometimes  erect, 
sometimes  half  bent,  and  sometimes  seeming  to  let  or 
rest  themselves  on  the  strength  of  their  knees,  but  still 
going  round  in  the  same  order,  making  a  most  hideous 
noise,  and  seeming  to  try  to  look  as  fierce  and  furious  as 
they  could.  Indeed,  their  countenances  were  rueful  to 
behold;  they  appeared  rather  like  creatures  come  from 
the  infernal  regions  than  inhabiters  of  the  earth.  THs 
horrid  dance  they  held,  I  suppose,  the  most  of  the  night; 
and  the  dolorous  noise  of  them  was  the  last  thing  I  heard 
before  I  dropped  asleep.  The  next  morning,  which  was 
the  Lord's  day,  they  went  off  early,  and  were  so  intent 
upon  their  journey  that  to  try  to  detain  them  for  any  time 
was  utterly  in  vain. 

Divine  Worship  evaded. 
After  they  were  gone,  I  visited  the  principal  men  of 

United  Nations,  at  which  a  number  of  these  Catawbas  were  present, 
a  cessation  of  arms  was  concluded  upon ;  and  there  is  a  prospect  of  a 
firm  and,  we  hope,  lasting  peace  between  them,  which  will  very  much 
prepare  the  way  for  the  spreading  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians 
in  general. — </.  B. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  233 

the  town,  and,  having  informed  them  of  my  design  in 
making  them  a  visit,  asked  them  if  they  would  call  the 
people  together  and  attend  upon  divine  worship,  that  I 
would  instruct  them  in  those  things  that  would  be  for 
their  good,  etc.  They  told  me,  that  the  next  day  the 
Indians  up  and  down  the  river  were  to  meet  together  at 
their  town  (as,  indeed,  I  had  heard  before),  that  the 
young  men  must  all  go  a-hunting  in  order  to  get  some 
provisions  For  their  brethren,  and  the  women  also  had 
much  to  do  to  make  ready  for  their  coming.  I  urged, 
that  the  old  people  and  such  as  could  be  spared  might 
attend,  and  pressed  the  matter  as  much  as  I  thought  it 
would  bear;  but  they  seemed  to  be  so  much  taken  up 
with  their  expected  meeting  that  they  had  no  ears  to 
hear  about  any  thing  else.  Besides,  a  grand  objection 
was  that  the  interpreter  was  gone.*  When  I  saw  that 
no  meeting  could  be  obtained,  I  visited  the  people  at 
their  own  houses,  and  discoursed  with  them  in  the  best 
manner  I  could  upon  religious  subjects. 

Indian  Council — Indian  Poison. 

The  next  day  the  Indians,  generally,  came  together, 
according  to  appointment.  They  came,  up  and  down 
the  river,  to  this  as  a  central  place,  near  thirty  miles. 
Their  meeting  was  not  on  the  account  of  my  coming, 
but  to  consult  about  some  affairs  of  their  own,  and,  as  I 
understood,  particularly  with  a  view  to  a  revelation  lately 
made  to  a  young  squaw  in  a  trance.  What  the  particu- 
lars of  this  revelation  were,  I  am  not  able  to  say ;  I 

*  It  must  be  observed  that,  though  I  had  an  interpreter  with  me,  yet 
he  could  not  serve  as  such  in  this  place,  because  they  speak  a  dialect 
entirely  different  from  him,  and  there  is  but  one  in  the  town  that  can 
speak  English  well,  though  sundry  others  can  do  considerable  at  it, 
and  the  most  of  them  understood  some. — /.  B. 


234  LIFE    OF   JOHN.BR4INERD. 

made  some  inquiry,  but  the  Indians  seemed  somewhat 
backward  to  tell.  But  this  much  I  learned,  that  it  was 
a  confirmation  of  some  revelations  they  had  had  before, 
and  particularly  that  it  was  the  mind  of  the  Great  Power 
that  they  should  destroy  the  poison  from  among  them.* 
Soon  after  the  Indians  were  met  together,  I  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  them,  desiring  to  be  admitted  into  their  Council, 
and,  withal,  letting  them  know  that  I  had  something  of 
importance  to  propose  to  them ;  and,  when  they  had  sat 
one  day,  they  sent  me  word  that  I  might  come.  Accord- 
ingly I  went,  and,  when  all  was  ready,  I  informed  them 
of  the  errand  and  design  I  was  come  upon,  how  and  by 
what  authority  I  was  sent,  and  that  I  had  a  sincere  desire 
to  instruct  them  and  their  children  in  those  things  that 
would  be  greatly  for  their  benefit  both  in  this  and  the 
future  world.  By  their  answer,  I  perceived  that  some 
of  their  old  and  leading  men  especially  had  imbibed 
some  late  prejudices  against  Christianity,  which,  I  after- 
wards understood,  were  occasioned  by  the  false  reports 
of  some  ill-minded  persons  who  had  been  trading  among 
them. 

The  Indians'  Theory  of  Races. 

They  told  me  that  the  great  God  first  made  three  men 
and  three  women,  viz. :  the  Indian,  the  negro,  and  the 
white  man.  That  the  white  man  was  the  youngest  bro- 

*  'Tis  said  that  the  Indians  keep  poison  among  them,  and  that  it  is 
of  such  a  nature  that  if  any  one  takes  it  in  his  breath  it  will  cause 
him,  in  a  few  months,  to  pine  away  and  die.  And  this  is  suppose  1 
to  be  in  the  keeping  of  their  old  and  principal  men,  and  by  this 
means  they  keep  the  people  in  continual  dread  of  them.  And  some 
of  the  Indians  seem  to  be  so  sottish  as  to  imagine  that  they  can 
poison  them  by  only  speaking  the  word  though  they  are  at  the  dis- 
tance of  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  and,  consequently,  are  afraid  to  dis- 
please them  in  any  point. — J.  B. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  235 

ther,  and  therefore  the  white  people  ought  not  to  think 
themselves  better  than  the  Indians.  That  God  gave  the 
white  man  a  book,  and  told  him  that  he  must  worship 
him  by  that;  but  gave  none  either  to  the  Indian  or 
negro,  and  therefore  it  could  not  be  right  for  them  to 
have  a  book,  or  be  any  way  concerned  with  that  way 
of  worship.  And,  furthermore,  they  understood  that  the 
white  people  were  contriving  a  method  to  deprive  them 
of  their  country  in  those  parts,  as  they  had  dene  by  the 
sea-side,  and  to  make  slaves  of  them  and  their  children 
as  they  did  of  the  negroes ;  that  I  was  sent  on  purpose 
to  accomplish  that  design,  and,  if  I  succeeded  and  man- 
aged my  business  well,  I  was  to  be  chief  ruler  in  those 
parts,  or,  as  they  termed  it,  king  of  all  their  country,  etc. 
They  made  all  the  objections  they  could,  and  raked  up 
all  the  ill  treatment  they  could  think  of  that  ever  their 
brethren  had  received  from  the  white  people ;  and  two  or 
three  of  them  seemed  to  have  resentment  enough  to  have 
slain  me  on  the  spot. 

I  answered  all  their  objections  against  Christianity,  and 
likewise  the  many  grievous  allegations  laid  to  my  charge, 
and  whatever  was  spoken  by  any  of  them.  But,  when 
I  had  done,  they  told  me  that  I  had  been  learning  a  great 
while,  and  'twas  no  wonder  if  I  could  out-talk  them ; 
but  this  did  not  at  all  convince  them  that  I  was  not  upon 
a  bad  design,  and  therefore  they  would  give  me  no  liberty 
to  preach  to  their  people,  but  charged  me  not  to  come 
any  more  upon  such  an  errand. 

Mr.  Brainerd  discouraged. 

When  I  saw  the  Indians  so  much  prejudiced  against 
Christianity,  I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  urge  the  matter 
any  further  at  this  time,  but  to  wait  till  an  opportunity 
should  present  for  the  removal  of  their  groundless  preju- 


236  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

dices ;  therefore  I  did  not  attempt  to  gather  any  number 
of  them  together,  but  visited  them  at  their  several  houses, 
and  had  much  opportunity  of  conversing  with  them  at  my 
own,  and  of  showing  them  kindness,  having  good  store 
of  provisions,  of  several  sorts,  which  they  much  wanted 
and  were  very  glad  of. 

Indians  pump  the  Interpreter. 

After  some  time,  they  sent  for  my  interpreter,  and  dis- 
coursed with  him  on  the  subject  of  Christianity.  They 
desired  him  to  give  them  the  reasons  why  he  forsook  the 
Indian  ways  and  became  a  Christian,  which  he  freely  and 
readily  did.  And  when  he  had  done,  and  answered  to 
many  questions,  they  told  him  they  should  be  glad  if  the 
Christian  Indians  should  come  and  live  there;  that  they- 
should  take  their  choice  of  all  the  uninhabited  land  on 
Susquehanna,  and  should  have  liberty  to  worship  God  as 
they  thought  right,  and  that  the  young  people  in  those 
parts  should  have  liberty  also  to  join  with  them,  if  they 
desired  it. 

The  interpreter  told  them  that  the  Christian  Indians 
could  not  come  to  live  there  unless  their  minister  came 
with  them.  They  replied,  the  minister  must  not  come, 
because  he  was  a  white  man;  that,  if  one  white  man 
came,  another  would  desire  it,  etc.,  and  so  by-and-by 
they  should  lose  their  country.  But  the  minister  might 
live  on  the  nearest  land  belonging  to  the  white  people, 
and  visit  them  as  often  as  he  would.  This,  the  inter- 
preter insisted  upon,  would  not  do,  but  the  minister  must 
come  with  them  and  live  on  the  spot.  The  result  of  the 
conversation  was  this:  the  interpreter,  upon  his  return 
home,  should  inform  the  Christian  Indians  that  the  king 
and  the  principal  Indians  on  Susquehanna  desired  to  see 
them  (or  at  least  a  number  of  them),  and  would  have 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  237 

them  make  them  a  visit  as  soon  as  they  could  conve- 
niently. Accordingly,  soon  after  his  return  to  the  Forks 
of  Delaware,  he  made  the  Indians  in  this  place  a  visit, 
and  faithfully  delivered  his  message;  and,  as  sundry  of 
the  Indians  in  those  parts  desired  the  same  of  me,  and 
as  I  cannot  but  hope,  through  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  it 
may  be  a  means  of  removing  some  of  their  unjust  preju- 
dices against  the  Christian  religion,  I  have  encouraged 
the  matter,  and  propose  to  send  a  number  of  the  -most 
judicious  of  my  people,  so  soon  as  their  circumstances 
will  permit. 

Mr.  Erd'inerd  loses  his  Horses. 

When  I  had  tarried  some  time  at  this  town,  and  used 
the  best  endeavors  I  could  with  the  inhabitants  to  bring 
them  to  a  good  thought  of  Christianity,  I  determined  to 
cross  the  river  and  go  over  the  mountains  to  the  West 
Branch,  upon  which  I  proposed  to  travel  two  hundred 
miles  or  more,  but  was  .unhappily  prevented  by  losing  my 
horses,  which,  I  have  abundant  reason  to  think,  were 
taken  by  an  Indian  trader  who  was  there  at  the  time  of 
my  first  arrival  in  the  place.  So,  when  I  had  made  tho- 
rough search  for  my  horses  (employing  Indians  day  after 
day  for  a  week  together),  and  found  all  my  endeavors 
unsuccessful,  I  was  obliged  to  give  away  the  remainder 
of  my  provisions,  and  make  the  best  of  my  way  home, 
which,  indeed,  I  did  not  accomplish  without  great  diffi- 
culty and  much  fatigue. 

My  interpreter,  the  first  day  that  my  horses  were  miss- 
ing, as  he  was  looking  for  them,  unhappily  so  lamed  him- 
self that  he  was  capable  of  being  no  further  help  to  me, 
but  rather  stood  in  need  of  being  tended  upon.  He  was 
utterly  unable  to  walk ;  nor  was  it  possible  that  I  could 
travel  with  such  a  load  as  was  necessary  to  be  taken 

21 


238  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 

with  me.  I  used  my  best  endeavors  to  procure  a  horse 
among  the  Indians,  but  all  to  no  purpose,  and  finally 
was  obliged  to  purchase  a  canoe  and  come  down  the 
river,  expecting  to  have  gone  near  one  hundred  miles  by 
water  to  the  first  white  inhabitants.  But,  having  pro- 
ceeded about  thirty  miles,  I  stopped  at  an  Indian  town, 
where  I  tarried  a  day  or  two;  and  finding  myself  much 
fatigued  with  coming  thus  far,  and  having  little  expecta- 
tion of  help  in  my  farther  progress  down  the  river,  I 
renewed  my  endeavors  at  this  place  also  to  get  a  horse, 
which,  through  a  kind  providence,  I  at  last  obtained. 
Accordingly,  the  same  day,  taking  leave  of  the  Indians, 
I  set  out  through  the  woods  alone,  being  obliged  to  leave 
my  interpreter  behind ;  and  having,  through  the  goodness 
of  God,  been  preserved  from  many  dangers  in  crossing 
the  mountains  until  I  arrived  among  the  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Brainerd  buys  a  new  Horse,  and  gets  home. 

I  had  the  good  fortune  soon  to  purchase  a  horse, 
whereby  I  was  enabled  to  proceed  further  on  my  jour- 
ney, and  the  next  day  came  to  the  Forks  of  Delaware, 
from  whence  I  sent  back  an  Indian  with  my  horse  to 
convey  my  interpreter  home;  and  there  expected  his 
coming,  which  was  not  many  days  after,  to  our  mutual 
comfort  and  satisfaction. 

After  some  small  tarry  here,  in  which  I  preached  seve- 
ral times  to  those  of  my  people  who  reside  at  this  place, 
and  sundry  others  that  were  providentially  with  them, 
I  proceeded  on  my  journey  home,  and  on  Saturday,  the 
8th  of  June,  arrived  at  the  Indian  town  in  New  Jersey, 
having  been  gone  six  weeks  wanting  four  days. 

On  the  Lord's  day,  June  the  gth,  I  attended  and  car- 
ried on  the  worship  of  God  with  my  people,  as  hereto- 
fore. The  next  day  I  set  out  on  a  journey  to  New 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  239 

York,  proposing  to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Correspond- 
ents in  order  to  consult  about  some  affairs  relating  to  my 
mission  among  the  Indians,  particularly  what  measures 
were  to  be  taken  to  remove  those  prejudices  above  men- 
tioned ;  but  two  of  the  members  being  out  of  town,  and 
those  in  the  country  not  having  been  before  apprized  of 
it,  I  was  not  able  at  this  time  to  accomplish  my  design. 

The  Indians  afraid  of  Slavery — Ministry  disrespected. 

The  reason  why  I  was  so  speedy  in  my  endeavors  to 
obtain  a  meeting  was  this.  There  was  a  treaty  appointed 
at  Albany,  and  to  begin  within  a  few  days,  between  seve- 
ral of  the  governors  on  the  continent,  or  their  commis- 
sioners, and  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  United  Nations ;  and  I 
could  not  but  think  that  this  presented  us  with  a  fair  op- 
portunity of  doing  something  for  the  removal  of  sundry 
obstacles  that  lie  in  the  way  of  propagating  the  gospel 
among  the  Indians,  especially  on  Susquehanna.  Particu- 
larly the  Indians  there  object  that  they  have  not  leave 
from  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations,  whom  they  own  as 
their  heads,  to  allow  ministers  to  come  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  them ;  and,  till  that  be  obtained,  they  can  give 
no  encouragement.  Another  thing  is,  the  false  and  ma- 
licious stories  of  such  as  trade  among  the  Indians,  which 
are  to  this  effect:  That  the  great  men  in  York,  Philadel- 
phia, etc.  have  laid  a  scheme  to  deprive  the  Indians  of 
all  their  lands  in  those  parts,  and  to  enslave  them  and 
their  posterity ;  that  the  ministers  are  sent  among  them 
purely  to  accomplish  that  design ;  that  they  are  knowing 
to  the  whole  matter,  and  can  assure  them  of  the  truth 
of  it,  etc. ;  and  one  thing  more  that  is  a  great  hindrance 
to  the  propagation  of  Christianity  among  them  is  the 
carrying  of  strong  liquors. 

Now,  the  commissioners  at  their  treaty  would  be  under 


240  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

special  advantages  to  remove  these  several  obstructions 
out  of  the  way,  and  so  open  a  door  in  some  measure  fcr 
the  spreading  of  the  gospel  in  those  parts;  and,  though 
I  could  not  obtain  a  meeting  of  the  Correspondents,  yet 
I  had  opportunity  to  converse  with  several  of  the  mem- 
bers upon  these  and  sundry  other  points  relating  to  the 
Indians.  I  likewise  had  opportunity  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Pierson,  of  Woodbridge,  to  wait  on  Governor  Belcher, 
and  to  acquaint  him  with  these  things ;  and,  at  our  de- 
sire, the  governor  wrote  to  the  commissioners  on  this 
head. 

Bigotry  illustrated. 

I  had  farther  an  opportunity  to  converse  with  a  gen- 
tleman, the  commissioner  from  South  Carolina,  who  ap- 
peared forward  to  do  any  thing  that  might  subserve  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians ;  and,  when 
the  commissioners  came  together  at  Albany,  this  was 
proposed  as  one  thing  to  be  treated  upon,  but,  as  I  have 
been  since  informed,  was  opposed  and  flung  out  princi- 
pally by  the  New  York  commissioners,  because  no  mis- 
sionaries of  the  Established  Church  appeared  to  go  among 
the  Indians  on  Susquehanna  and  parts  adjacent.  But,  as 
it  is  well  known  that  the  French  are  using  many  artful 
endeavors  to  bring  the  Indians  over  to  their  interest,  and 
there  is  much  danger  of  it  if  some  speedy  care  is  not 
taken,  how  impolitic,  as  well  as  fraught  with  bigotry, 
this  was,  I  leave  others  to  judge. 

Mr.  Brainerd  home  again. 

I  returned  to  my  charge  the  same  week,  and  on  the 
Sabbath  ensuing  carried  on  public  worship  as  usual ;  the 
next  Sabbath  I  administered  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  seemed  to  be  a  time  of  revival,  especially 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  241 

to  the  communicants ;  since  which  time  I  have  been 
steadily  with  my  people,  attending  divine  services  among 
them,  except  that  I  have  supplied  two  destitute  congre- 
gations once,  and  was  absent  one  Sabbath  by  reason  of 
attending  a  meeting  of  the  Correspondents. 

And  as  to  the  state  of  the  Indian  congregation,  I  think 
there  is  considerable  encouragement.  The  Indians  have 
been,  in  general,  more  healthy  of  late  than  they  used  to 
be,  and  some  of  them  much  more  disposed  to  industry 
than  heretofore. 

There  has  not,  indeed,  been  for  some  months,  that  I 
know  of,  any  work  of  saving  conversion  among  them; 
but  there  is  a  number  that  appear  to  be  under  some  de- 
gree of  spiritual  concern,  especially  at  times,  and  the 
people  in  general  attend  the  public  worship  in  a  serious 
and  consistent  manner. 

Some  of  those  likewise  that  make  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion, and  who  have  not  heretofore  lived  so  agreeable  to 
their  profession  as  could  have  been  desired,  have  behaved 
well  of  late,  and  I  cannot  but  hope  will  continue  so  to 
do;  and  the  children  make  desirable  proficiency  in  read- 
ing, learning  their  Catechisms,  etc.  In  a  word,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  these  people  appear  with  a  more  encou- 
raging aspect  this  summer  than  for  some  time  past,  and 
we  cannot  but  hope  that  He  who  has  so  graciously  begun 
will  perfect  his  goodness  among  them. 

As  to  the  Indians  on  Susquehanna,  the  account  I  have 
given  of  my  late  journey  there,  and  the  treatment  I  met 
with  among  them,  seems  to  hold  forth  some  discourage- 
ment. 'Tis  true,  indeed,  there  are  at  present  some  ob- 
stacles in  the  way ;  but  these,  I  doubt  not,  with  some 
prudent  care  and  pains,  might  in  a  great  measure  be  re- 
moved. But  no  undertaking  of  this  nature  can  possibly 
be  managed  without  a  very  considerable  expense,  which 


242  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

at  present  there  is  no  provision  for.  For  instance:  the 
chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations  might  be  treated  with  upon  the 
affair  above  mentioned  in  their  own  country ;  and  doubt- 
less those  could  be  found  that  would  freely  go  upon  such 
an  errand. 

Better  Support  required. 

But  there  is  nothing  to  support  the  charge  that  would 
necessarily  attend  such  an  action,  and  consequently  the 
matter  must  rest  where  it  is.  And  many  things  of  the 
like  nature  might  be  done  which  would  greatly  prepare 
the  way  for  the  spreading  of  the  gospel,  and  be  matter 
of  encouragement  to  missionaries  to  use  endeavors  for 
the  same.  But  for  want  of  this  they  must  be  obliged  to 
encounter  many  unnecessary  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments, which  ought  by  no  means  to  be  added  to  those 
that  are  unavoidable  in  Christianizing  a  heathen  pagan 
people.  This  mission,  ever  since  I  have  been  concerned 
in  it,  has  greatly  suffered  for  want  of  a  more  liberal  sup- 
port ;  and  I  have  constantly  looked  upon  myself  as  one 
sent  out  to  fight  with  his  hands  tied.  I  am  sensible  the 
goodness  of  God  is  to  be  acknowledged  for  the  provision 
that  has  been  made,  not  to  mention  the  great  kindness 
of  that  honorable  and  worthy  Society  that  has  been  the 
instrument  of  conveyance  to  us ;  but  yet  the  medium  is 
much  too  short  to  support  and  carry  on  such  an  under- 
taking. 

Disadvantages  of  his  late  Journey. 

When  I  took  my  late  journey,  I  was  obliged  to  go 
under  the  utmost  disadvantages.  Instead  of  having  a 
fellow-missionary  with  me  and  a  number  of  Indians,  I 
was  obliged  to  go  alone,  with  one  Indian  only ;  and  had 
not  wherewithal  so  much  as  to  pay  his  wages,  and  bear 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  243 

the  expense  of  his  travel.  Now,  the  benefit  of  a  num- 
ber of  Indians,  besides  the  help  they  would  afford  a  mis- 
sionary on  the  way  by  hunting,  etc.,  is  very  apparent. 
Their  presence  and  conversation  with  their  pagan  bre- 
thren would  greatly  tend  to  remove  their  jealousies,  and 
convince  them  that  the  missionary  had  a  real  design  for 
their  good ;  and  though  finally  the  missionary  should  be 
denied  the  liberty  of  preaching,  yet,  having  the  advantage 
of  carrying  on  divine  worship  and  preaching  to  his  own 
company,  numbers  of  the  pagans  would  out  of  curiosity 
come  to  hear,  and  s'o  be  in  the  way  of  receiving  some 
good. 

But  such  a  thing  as  this  cannot  be  done  without  some- 
thing to  bear  the  expense  of  it.  The  Christian  Indians 
in  this  place  would,  any  of  them,  cheerfully  go  upon  such 
an  expedition  if  any  thing  could  be  done  for  the  support 
of  their  families  the  meantime,  and  a  small  matter  could 
be  allowed  them  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  support 
themselves.  But  so  low  are  their  circumstances  that, 
without  some  help,  they  cannot  afford  much  assistance 
without  exposing  their  families  to  extreme  want. 

These  Indians,  when  they  first  embraced  Christianity, 
were  inexpressibly  poor,  vastly  involved  in  debt,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  help  they  have  received  from  the 
white  people,  are  still  poor  and  indigent.  They  are  not 
able  to  work  upon  their  land  so  much  as  I  could  desire, 
being  many  of  them  obliged,  while  they  should  be  plant- 
ing, sowing,  etc.,  to  do  something  to  supply  their  present 
exigencies,  or,  perhaps,  to  pay  some  debt  that  they  are 
sued  for,  as  has  often  been  the  case  since  I  have  been 
among  them,  which  has  made  me  frequently  reflect  on 
the  words  of  the  wise  man:  "  The  destruction  of  the  poor 
is  their  poverty"  And  though  they  do  apparently  gain 
upon  it  in  respect  of  their  outward  condition,  yet  nothing 


244  LIfE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

is  to  be  expected  from  them  that  is  any  way  chargeable 
and  expensive. 

Brainerd's  want  of  Funds  to  enable  him  to  succeed, 

When  I  went  to  Susquehanna  last  year,  I  was  obliged 
to  find  my  interpreter's  family  a  considerable  part  of  their 
eatables  while  he  was  gone,  as  well  as  bear  his  expenses 
and  give  him  considerable  beside. 

And,  though  the  Correspondents  were  pleased  to  make 
the  addition  of  <£io  York  currency  to  my  salary,  yet  that 
was  so  far  from  being  sufficient  to  support  my  extraordi- 
nary expenses  in  such  a  journey,  that  it  would  not  make 
my  salary  competent  at  home,  much  less  enable  me  to 
hire  an  interpreter  and  bear  his  expenses  through  the 
journey.  It  is  scarce  possible  for  any  one  who  has  not 
made  trial  to  conceive  what  is  necessary  to  support  a 
missionary  among  a  number  of  indigent  Indians,  espe- 
cially where  there  is  much  sickness  and  the  poor  crea- 
tures frequently  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  as  has 
been  much  the  case  here;  and  likewise  where  pagan 
strangers  are  frequently  coming  to  the  place,  who  are 
yet  (if  possible)  more  needy,  and  want  something  of  a 
temporal  nature  to  encourage  them  at  their  first  coming. 
What  would  be  counted  a  plentiful  salary  among  the 
English  will  by  no  means  support  a  missionary  among 
the  Indians. 

The  Correspondents  this  year  also,  at  one  of  their 
meetings  a  little  before  I  set  out  on  my  journey,  were 
pleased  to  vote  me  £12  York  currency,  and  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  an  interpreter,  the  most  of  which  I  have  re- 
ceived since  my  return  (there  being  then  little  or  no 
money  in  the  treasury),  which  has  been  a  considerable 
help  to  me :  but  still  my  necessary  expenses  far  exceed 
my  incomes. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR 41  NERD.  245 

I  do  not  mention  these  things  by  way  of  complaint. 
I  have  often  thought  that  if  the  Society  should  please  to 
continue  me  in  their  service,  and  I  should  see  any  pros- 
pect of  being  further  useful  among  the  Indians,  I  should 
continue  in  the  business  till  I  had  spent  what  little  sub- 
stance God  has  put  into  my  hands,  and  then  nothing 
further  can  be  expected  or  desired  of  me.  But  what  has 
led  me  to  speak  of  this,  is  because  I  find  myself  much 
cramped  in  the  business  I  am  employed  in,  my  designs 
crossed,  and  my  endeavors  to  convert  the  heathen  in  a 
great  measure  rendered  abortive,  for  want  of  something 
more  liberal  to  support  such  an  undertaking. 

Why  his  Susquehanna  journey  failed. 

My  last  journey  to  Susquehanna  (as  I  have  already 
observed)  was  under  the  most  abject  circumstances, 
whereby  I  was  not  only  exposed  much  more  to  dangers 
and  hardships,  but  my  endeavors  in  a  great  measure  ren- 
dered useless. 

I  likewise  proposed  to  the  Correspondents  at  a  late 
meeting  to  take  a  journey  into  Alagana,  a  large  country 
near  five  hundred  miles  from  Susquehanna,  where,  I  am 
informed,  there  are  great  numbers  of  Indians,  and  that 
some  have  manifested  a  considerable  desire  to  have  a 
minister  come  among  them.  I  have  for  some  time  been 
desirous  of  making  them  a  visit,  and  proposed  in  my  late 
journey  to  have  gone  at  least  two  hundred  miles  that 
way,  and  was  not  without  hopes,  if  I  should  then  enjoy 
a  comfortable  degree  of  health  and  be  smiled  upon  by 
Divine  Providence,  to  have  gone  through  and  made  an 
entrance  among  them ;  but,  meeting  with  an  unhappy 
disappointment,  I  was  obliged  soon  to  return,  as  related 
above. 

Then  I  proposed  in  my  own  mind,  and  afterwards  in 


246  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

a  meeting  of  the  Correspondents,  to  take  a  journey  into 
that  country  next  spring;  but  this  proposal  was  imme- 
diately rejected,  because  there  was  no  money  to  defray 
the  expense  that  must  necessarily  attend  such  a  journey. 

Br  a  i  nerd's  reason  for  taking  long  Journeys. 

If  it  should  be  wondered  why  I  incline  to  take  such 
journeys,  so  remote  from  the  people  of  my  more  pecu- 
liar charge,  and  looked  upon  as  desiring  to  run  before 
I  am  sent,  I  answer:  These  people  among  whom  I 
chiefly  reside  are  but  a  handful  in  comparison  with  those 
that  live  remote  from  the  white  inhabitants.  They  are 
gathered  together  in  a  collect  body,  and,  with  the  help 
of  a  schoolmaster  residing  constantly  among  them,  and 
the  neighboring  ministers,  who  can  with  ease  visit  and 
preach  to  them  once  in  a  while,  they  may  be  under  com- 
fortable circumstances,  the  worship  of  God  may  be  kept 
up  among  them,  and  they  may  be  without  a  constant 
ministry  for  some  time  without  any  great  detriment  to 
the  cause  of  religion  among  them. 

Reason  for  sending  Missionaries  to  places  where  the  Gospel 
was  never  Preached. 

Indeed,  if  there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  mission- 
aries among  the  pagan  inhabitants  of  this  land,  if  the 
Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  heathen  and  in- 
fidel parts,  instead  of  sending  the  missionaries  where  the 
gospel  is  universally  preached  already,  and  bestowing 
their  bounties  upon  a  wealthy,  opulent  people  who  are 
sufficiently  able  to  maintain  the  gospel  themselves, — if, 
instead  of  this,  they  would  send  them  into  the  heathenish 
and  benighted  parts  of  this  land,  where  the  people  are 
perishing  for  lack  of  vision,  so  that  they  might  be  generally 
supplied, — if  this  was  the  case,  a  missionary  might  well 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  247 

be  employed  wholly  among  these  people,  and  doubtless 
to  better  purpose  than  many  of  our  English  missionaries 
who  are  sent  under  a  pretence  of  gospelizing  the  hea- 
then. But,  as  the  Indians  are  universally  involved  in 
darkness,  and  under  the  most  wretched  and  deplorable 
circumstances,  there  is  no  one,  I  believe,  who  has  seri- 
ously thought  upon  it,  and  especially  been  an  eye-wit- 
ness to  their  sad  and  perishing  condition,  that  would  not 
be  earnestly  desirous  to  afford  them  some  relief,  and  be 
ready  to  use  any  lawful  means  to  that  end.  Nor  could 
he  content  himself  to  be  confined  to  one  little  spot,  when 
whole  countries  are  dying  for  want  of  knowledge.  It 
has  been  matter  of  sorrow  to  me  that  I  could  do  no 
more  towards  spreading  of  the  gospel  among  the  heathen 
as  well  as  promoting  the  work  of  God  in  my  own  con- 
gregation ;  and  truly  no  small  trial  to  find  myself  so  much 
pinched  and  unable  to  take  those  measures  which,  I  have 
been  satisfied,  would  be  of  special  service  to  the  cause  I 
am  engaged  in,  for  want  of  that  which  is  so  much  abused 
by  the  most  of  mankind,  and  serves  them  only  to  gratify 
their  lusts  and  accomplish  their  lawless  desires. 

A  Female  School  desirable. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  mention  one  thing  in  particular 
that  has  been  much  upon  my  mind  for  some  time,  and 
which,  I  doubt  not,  would  be  of  singular  service  to  the 
cause  we  are  endeavoring  to  promote  in  this  place ;  and 
that  is  the  setting-up  of  a  female  school, — a  school  for 
the  benefit  more  especially  of  the  younger  sort  of  women 
and  girls,  at  which  they  might  be  instructed  in  the  several 
sorts  of  business  that  the  white  women  are  employed  in. 

The  female  inhabitants  of  this  place  are  much  better 
inclined  in  all  respects  than  the  men.  They  are  better, 
in  general,  as  to  their  morals,  and  much  more  indus- 


248  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD. 

trious,  but,  in  the  latter  respect,  not  under  half  the  ad- 
vantage. The  men  have  plenty  of  land  to  work  upon; 
but  the  principal  means  that  the  women  have  to  get  any 
money  is  by  making  baskets  and  brooms ;  and,  as  we  have 
lived  long  in  this  place,  they  have  pillaged  the  country 
round  about,  so  that  there  is  now  no  suitable  wood  with- 
in a  great  distance  whereof  to  make  these  wares,  and, 
consequently,  many  of  them  are  obliged  to  be  almost 
idle  at  home,  or  else  scatter  abroad  where  suitable  stuff 
can  be  found,  which  is  attended  with  great  inconve- 
nience. 

These  women  would  gladly  come  into  an  English  way 
of  living,  if  they  were  able;  but,  being  unable  to  pur- 
chase wool,  flax,  etc.,  they  are  obliged  to  keep  on  in  their 
old  track,  and  so  to  buy  all  their  clothing  at  the  ready 
penny.  And  this  still  keeps  them  low,  and  renders  them 
unable  to  procure  those  materials  by  the  benefit  of  which 
they  might  get  into  a  better  way. 

Brainerd  buys  Spinning-wheels  for  the  Indian  women. 

I  have  indeed,  some  time  ago,  bought  them  several 
spinning-wheels  with  some  money  that  I  begged  for  that 
purpose,  hoping  that  this  might  be  some  encouragement 
to  them,  and  some  have  done  a  small  matter  at  spinning 
linen;  but,  having  nobody  to  instruct  them,  and  espe- 
cially being  unable  to  purchase  flax,  it  has  in  a  great 
measure  dropped.  Now,  if  there  could  be  a  small  fund 
raised  whereby  a  Mistress  could  be  supported  for  a  year 
or  two,  a  few  more  wheels  and  other  materials  procured, 
I  doubt  not  but  in  a  little  time  they  would  get  into  a 
way  of  making  their  own  clothing,  which  they  have 
hitherto  bought  at  a  dear  rate  by  brooming,  basketing, 
and  the  like.  This,  it  appears  to  me,  would  be  of  un- 
speakable advantage  to  the  cause,  for  by  this  means  they 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  249 

might  not  only  clothe  themselves  at  a  much  cheaper  rate, 
but  would  be  more  constantly  at  home  to  attend  public 
services,  and  their  children  to  attend  the  school ;  whsre- 
as  they  are  now  obliged  to  be  much  absent  from  our  ex- 
ercises of  divine  worship,  and  frequently  to  take  their 
children  with  them.  And  truly  'tis  in  vain  to  pretend  to 
keep  these  people  together  without  bringing  them  into  an 
English  '  method  of  living.  In  order  to  make  them  a 
Christian  people,  considered  as  a  body,  and  to  keep  up  a 
Christian  church  among  them,  they  must  even  in  tem- 
poral respects  conform  to  the  manners  of  the  Christian 
world. 

Indians  waiting  to  see  the  Result  of  Christianity. 

Many  of  these  people  are  sensible  of  this,  and  are 
using  endeavors  to  get  into  such  a  way.  Several  of  late 
have  discovered  an  inclination  to  put  out  their  children 
to  learn  trades,  and  some  have  actually  done  it, — a  thing 
that  heretofore  they  have  shown  a  great  aversion  to. 
And  in  sundry  other  respects  they  have  manifested  a  dis- 
position to  conform  to  the  English ;  and  I  cannot  but 
think  if  we  could  be  at  a  little  more  expense  with  them, 
they  would  soon  be  brought  into  a  better  way  of  living. 
And  the  better  circumstances  these  people  are  under,  the 
more  encouragement  there  would  be  for  the  remote  In- 
dians to  embrace  Christianity.  They  are  now,  many 
of  them,  waiting  to  see  how  it  fares  with  their  brethren 
who  are  become  Christians,  and  whether  they  are  in  a 
better  condition  than  themselves  who  remain  heathen; 
and  doubtless  would  be  much  influenced  one  way  or  the 
other,  either  to  reject  or  embrace  the  Christian  religion, 
— I  mean,  as  to  the  outward  and  external  part  of  it.  I 
am  sensible  that  for  a  person  or  people  heartily  to  em- 
brace this  religion  and  become  truly  Christian,  there  is 

22 


z-50  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

absolute  need  that  the  power  of  Almighty  God  be. ex- 
erted, and  that  nothing  short  of  the  irresistible  opera- 
tions of  his  Holy  Spirit  will  produce  such  an  effect, — 
which  may  the  Lord  grant  as  an  attendant  of  his  gospel 
throughout  the  whole  world  ! . 

Thus  I  have,  after  some  sort,  represented  the  state  of 
the  Indian  affairs  here  and  elsewhere,  and  what  appears 
to  me  necessary  to  the  further  propagating  the  gospel 
and  carrying  on  the  work  of  God  among  them,  secretly 
hoping  that,  through  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  it  may 
some  way  or  other  be  a  means  of  strengthening  our 
hands  and  helping  us  forward  in  so  good  a  work. 

May  the  Lord  open  the  hearts  of  his  people  as  oppor- 
tunity shall  present  to  contribute  liberally  to  such  a  pious 
and  charitable  design.  May  many  faithful  instruments 
be  raised  up  and  sent  forth,  who  shall  be  willing  to  spend 
and  be  spent  in  so  good  a  cause;  and  may  the  effectual 
operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  attend  a  preached  gospel 
to  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  world,  till  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea, 
and  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ,  to  whom  be  glory  forever.  Amen. 

(Signed)  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BETHEL,  August  30,  1751. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  251 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ME.  BRAINERD'S  SALARY — HIS  LONDON  LETTER. 

1752. 

HIKE  salary  of  David  Brainerd,  as  we  have  said, 
was  forty  pounds  (two  hundred  dollars)  a 
year.  He  says  that,  in  addition  to  this,  he  had 
spent  in  less  than  three  years  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars of  his  own  means  to  carry  on  his  mission, — 
all  this  in  addition  to  his  support  of  a  candidate 
for  the  ministry  in  Yale  College.  John  Brainerd 
probably  had  less  means,  and,  as  he  was  about  to 
marry  and  settle  in  life,  and  was  subjected  other- 
wise to  extraordinary  expenses  in  his  labors,  it  is 
no  wonder  he  felt  pinched  and  sought  an  "aug- 
mentation of  stipend."  His  first  application  failed, 
but  he  succeeded  to  a  moderate  extent  the  next 
year.  We  quote  again  from  the  records  of  the 

Scotch  Society  in  Edinburgh: — 

* 

Extract  from  the  Minutes,  dated  Edinburgh,  21  st  September, 

1752. 

"  Read  the  minutes  of  the  correspondent  members  at 
London,  at  their  meeting  held  the  sixth  day  of  August ; 
that  he  had  paid  twenty  pounds,  as  a  half-year's  salary, 
to  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  from  the  fifteenth  day  of  Septem- 


252  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

ber,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-one  years,  to 
the  fifteenth  day  of  March  last,  as  missionary-minister 
abroad,  whereby  there  is  a  balance  in  Mr.  Johnston  their 
cashier's  hands  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  pounds, 
nine  shillings,  and  nine  pence;  that  the  said  Correspond- 
ents at  London  have  recommended  to  this  Society  to  aug- 
ment the  salary  of  the  said  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  in  respect 
of  his  very  great  fatigue  and  expense  in  his  missions. 
The  Committee,  after  reasoning,  resolved  that  the  said 
Mr.  Brainerd  have  ten  pounds  of  augmentation  to  his 
salary,  commencing  from  the  fifteenth  day  of  September 
instant." 

To  whom  the  following  letter  is  addressed  we 
have  no  certain  knowledge. 

Brainerd  corresponded  with  the  Rev.  Philip 
Doddridge,  the  Marquis  of  Lothian,  and  many 
others  in  England.  As  the  prefix  "Rev."  is  at- 
tached, I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was  sent  to  Dr. 
Doddridge,  who  in  his  "Life  of  David  Brainerd" 
says  he  had  invited  John  Brainerd's  correspond- 
ence. The  letter  lies  before  us  in  a  neat  pamph- 
let. An  extract  from  it  has  been  often  repub- 
lished,*  but  the  entire  letter  has  never  been  re- 
printed in  this  country.  We  give  the  title  ver- 
batim : — - 

*  See  Gillies'  Collection,  Glasgow,  1754,  p.  448;    "Dwight's   Life 
of  Brainerd,"  449,  and  elsewhere. 


A    GENUINE 

LETTER 

FROM 

Mr.  JOHN   BRAINERD, 

Employed  by  the 

SCOTCH   SOCIETY  for  Propagating  the 
GOSPEL, 

A   MISSIONARY  to  the  Indians  in  America,  and   MINISTER  to 
a  Congregation  of  Indians,  at  Bethel  in  East  Jersey, 

To  his  FRIEND  in  ENGLAND. 

Giving  an  Account  of  the  Success  of  his  Labours,  as  well  as 
the  Difficulties  and  Discouragements  that  attend  his  MIS- 
SION among  those  Savages. 


LONDON: 

Printed   for  J.  WARD,  at  the   King's-Arms  in   Cornhill. 
M.DCC.LIH. 

(Price   2  d.  or    18  d.  per  Dozen.) 


22*  253 


254  LIFE   OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


BETHEL  in  NEW  JERSEY,  October  4,  1752. 

REVEREND  AND  HONORED  SIR: — 

When  your  courteous  and  obliging  letter  by  Captain 
Grant  arrived,  I  was  in  New  England,  using  endeavors 
to  procure  some  assistance  for  carrying  on  the  good  work 
among  the  Indians,  the  people  of  my  charge ;  and  since 
my  return  have  been  in  such  a  low  state  of  health,  and 
withal  so  crowded  with  a  throng  of  business,  that  I  have 
not  been  able  to  send  you  an  answer  so  soon  by  months 
as  I  could  have  desired.  This,  I  hope,  will  in  some 
measure  apologize  for  me,  and  that  you  will  be  so  good 
as  to  overlook  my  deficiency. 

And  now,  dear  sir,  what  shall  I  say?  I  cannot  but 
admire  the  goodness  of  God,  that  he  should  put  it  into 
the  hearts  of  his  servants  at  so  great  a  distance  to  think 
of  these  poor  people,  and  to  show  any  regard  to  me,  who 
am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints.  But  God  does  his  sove- 
reign pleasure,  and  it  is  the  great  happiness  of  his  chil- 
dren that  he  rules  and  governs  the  world. 

I  accept  your  generosity  with  much  thankfulness,  and, 
I  hope,  some  degree  of  gratitude  to  the  bountiful  Author 
of  all  our  mercies,  as  well  as  the  instrument  he  is  pleased 
to  employ,  and  shall  see  that  your  orders  are  punctually 
fulfilled  ;  your  request,  likewise,  respecting  some  account 
of  the  Indian  affairs,  I  shall  endeavor  to  comply  with, 
though  I  am  exceedingly  crowded  for  time. 

I  have  been  employed  as  a  missionary  among  these 
Indians  for  above  four  years  and  a  half,  besides  offici- 
ating for  my  brother  several  months  during  his  last  sick- 
ness. In  this  space  of  time  the  number  has  considerably 
increased,  though  for  more  than  two  years  after  I  came 
we  were  visited  with  much  sickness  and  great  mortality. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  255 

Condition  of  the  Mission. 

We  have  now  near  forty  families  belonging  to  our 
society,  and  our  church  consists  of  thirty-seven  com- 
municants, besides  two  or  three  more  that  stand  as  can- 
didates for  admission.  Our  school  has  sometimes  con- 
sisted of  above  fifty  children,  but  the  number  at  present 
is  not  altogether  so  great.  The  children  in  general  seem 
to  be  as  apt  to  learn  as  English  children,  and  some  are 
very  forward  considering  the  opportunity  they  have  had. 
Not  less  than  twenty,  I  believe,  are  able  to  read  pretty 
distinctly  in  the  Bible  and  repeat  most  of  the  Assembly's 
Short  Catechism  •,  and  some  are  able  to  repeat  it  through, 
together  with  the  proofs,  giving  chapter  and  verse;  and 
sundry  of  them  can  write  a  decent  legible  hand.  We 
have  one  training  up  for  the  ministry,  in  a  great  measure 
at  the  expense  of  the  Society  in  Scotland :  he  is  a  very 
promising  young  man,  makes  good  proficiency  in  his 
learning,  and  is,  I  hope,  truly  pious.  May  the  Lord 
continue  his  life,  and  make  him  a  rich  blessing  to  his 
pagan  brethren ! 

I  have  spent  the  most  of  my  time,  since  I  have  been 
employed  as  a  missionary,  among  these  people,  but  not 
wholly  confined  myself  to  them.  I  have  taken  several 
journeys  out  among  the  remote  Indians,  and  some  to 
those  at  a  great  distance.  By  this  means,  with  the  bless- 
ing of  God  on  my  labors,  I  have  persuaded  sundry  to 
come  from  distant  parts  and  settle  here,  where  they  and 
their  children  have  the  advantages  of  instruction,  which, 
I  trust,  have  been  blest  to  the  saving  conversion  of  some. 
May  the  Lord  daily  increase  the  number! 

These  people,  thus  settled  on  this  spot,  do  universally 
do  something  more  or  less  at  husbandry ;  but  they  have 
been  brought  up  in  such  an  idle,  wandering  manner  that 


256  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

it  is  very  difficult  to  keep  them  steady  to  any  business, 
and  indeed  it  is  not  without  difficulty  that  they  learn  to 
do  the  several  sorts  of  work  that  belong  to  tillage  of  land, 
etc.  But  I  find  they  gain  upon  it  in  both  these  respects, 
and  I  hope  in  some  time  will  come  to  live  like  Christian 
people. 

I  am  getting  some  of  the  boys  put  out  to  learn  trades, 
and  propose  shortly  to  set  up  a  working-school  for  the 
girls,  at  which  they  must  be  taught  to  spin,  knit,  etc.  I 
have  had  my  mind  upon  this  for  some  time,  and  have 
made  one  or  two  attempts  before,  but  have  been  unable 
to  support  the  expense  of  it ;  but  having  of  late  obtained 
some  assistance  from  New  England  and  elsewhere,  I  hope 
to  be  able  to  carry  on  the  affair  to  some  good  purpose. 
And  I  cannot  but  think,  with  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  it 
will  be  of  excellent  use  to  the  cause  I  am  engaged  in, 
serve  abundantly  to  civilize  and  bring  them  into  a  more 
comfortable  way  of  living.  I  propose  another  school  of 
the  like  nature  for  the  boys,  such  as  are  not  put  out  to 
trades,  at  which  they  may  be  learned  to  work,  and  from 
their  very  childhood  inured  and  trained  up  to  the  business 
of  husbandry.  This  might  be  another  excellent  help  to 
our  cause,  if  it  could  be  obtained.  I  have  no  provision 
for  it  yet,  saving  that,  at  a  very  considerable  expense,  I 
have  secured  a  large  tract  of  land  suitable  for  the  busi- 
ness to  be  managed  upon,  and  hope  before  a  great  while, 
by  some  means  or  other,  to  accomplish  my  design,  and 
for  the  blessing  of  Heaven  to  succeed  my  endeavors. 

Facilities,  Discouragements,  and  Obstacles. 

You  desire  me,  sir,  in  your  letter,  to  let  you  know 
"my  encouraging  experiences  and  prospects,  my  discou- 
ragements and  obstructions."  Some  of  these  I  have 
^occasionally  hinted  at  already,  and  shall  further  observe 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  257 

that,  as  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  this  place  has  in- 
creased, notwithstanding  the  great  mortality  among  us, 
so  our  church  is  enlarged,  although  we  lost  at  least  a 
third  part  of  those  that  were  members  of  it  when  I 
came.  And  although  some  that  were  most  hopeful  and 
gave  the  fairest  prospect  of  being  a  blessing  among  us 
were  removed,  yet  the  Lord  hath  mercifully  raised  up 
others  who  in  some  measure  fill  up  their  places ;  some 
that  not  long  since  were  the  basest  drunkards  are  now  be- 
come sober,  and  live  a  regular  Christian  life.  We  have 
a  very  considerable  number  of  serious  regular  Christians, 
who  are  an  ornament  to  religion ;  although  some  that 
make  a  profession  have  grievously  backslidden.  The 
Lord  has  preserved  and  continued  a  Christian  congrega- 
tion together,  though  many  attempts  have  been'made  by 
Satan  and  his  instruments  to  disperse  and  destroy  it. 
And  there  are  sundry  persons  besides  professors  that  are 
under  serious  impressions  and  thoughtfulness  about  the 
great  concerns  of  their  souls,  and  one  at  least  hopefully 
converted  of  late,  whom  I  propose  shortly  to  admit  into 
the  church.  And  though  we  have  many  careless,  un- 
concerned souls,  that  seem  to  have  little  thoughtfulness 
about  the  things  of  another  world,  yet  it  is  evident  the 
congregation  in  general  make  proficiency  in  knowledge 
both  as  to  spiritual  and  temporal  things,  and  are  abun- 
dantly more  and  more  civilized  as  to  their  dress,  beha- 
vior, and  manner  of  living.  These  things  give  me  some 
encouragement,  and  cause  me  to  hope  that  the  Lord  will 
place  his  name  here  and  delight  to  build  us  up,  that  he 
will  glorify  the  riches  of  his  grace  in  establishing  his 
church  in  this  place,  spread  the  saving  knowledge  of  his 
gospel  far  among  the  poor  Indians,  and  cause  his  grace 
to  be  made  known  even  to  their  most  distant  tribes. 
As  for  the  difficulties  I  meet  with,  they  are  best 


258  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

known  to  God  and  my  own  soul.  But  any  one  that 
considers  the  education  of  barbarous,  uncultivated  hea- 
thens will  easily  see  that  it  must  be  attended  with  no 
small  difficulty  to  bring  such  to  a  civilized,.  Christian 
manner  of  life.  My  exercises  among  these  people,  I 
must  needs  say,  have  been  very  pressing  indeed;  but, 
having  obtained  help  from  God,  I  yet  live. 

The  Great  Evil — Intemperance. 

The  great  and  almost  universal  propensity  in  the 
whole  nation  of  Indians  to  strong  drink  is  a  great  ob- 
stacle in  the  way  of  their  being  brought  to  Christianity. 
This,  above  all  others,  is  the  sin  that  easily  besets  them, 
and  has  been  the  greatest  blemish  to  the  cause  of  religion 
among  them  in  this  place. 

This  sin  of  drunkenness  and  the  effects  of  it  have 
given  me  inexpressible  trouble  and  anxiety  of  soul  since 
I  have  been  employed  in  this  business ;  and  although  I 
have  done  my  utmost,  and  even  summoned  all  the  powers 
of  my  soul  to  represent  the  evil  of  it,  yet  with  some  it  is 
still  prevalent. 

Bad  Whites — Grog-sellers. 

And  our  neighbors  the  white  people  are  not  a  little 
accessory  to  the  commission  of  this  evil.  There  is 
scarce  one  of  them  that  has  strong  liquor  to  dispose 
of  but  what  will  sell  to  the  Indians,  although  I  have  set 
the  evil  before  them  and  earnestly  besought  them  not  to 
do  it;  and  some,  I  have  been  told,  will  buy  drink  in 
taverns  and  public  houses,  and  give  them,  to  see  if  they 
cannot  make  Christian  Indians  drunk  as  well  as  others. 
Some  likewise  have  endeavored  to  asperse  my  character 
to  the  Indians,  and  represent  me  as  a  vagrant,  wandering 
fellow,  that  wanted  to  pick  up  something  among  the  In- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  259 

dians  for  a  living;  but,  blessed  be  God!  their  malicious 
and  groundless  aspersions  have  not  had  the  desired  effect. 
The  poor  Indians  are  conscious  to  themselves  that  I  am 
their  good  friend,  and  sincerely  engaged  to  promote  their 
best  good. 

Indolent,  wandering  Habits. 

Another  thing  that  renders  it  exceeding  difficult  to 
bring  the  Indians  into  a  Christian  method  of  living  is  an 
indolent,  wandering,  unsteady  disposition,  which  greatly 
prevails  among  them.  In  this  manner  they  have  been 
educated,  and  it  seems  to  be  so  riveted  into  their  natures 
that  it  is  almost  as  difficult  to  reform  them  upon  this 
point  as  to  change  their  color.  This  has  been  a  sore 
trial  to  me  ever  since  I  entered  upon  the  business.  I 
have  preached  one  lecture  after  another  upon  this  sub- 
ject, and  used  my  utmost  endeavors  in  a  more  private 
manner  to  reform  them,  and  have  reason  to  bless  God 
my  labors  in  that  respect  have  not  been  altogether  in 
vain,  though  I  have  yet  much  exercise  on  that  head. 

His  Susquehanna  Tour. 

In  my  journeyings  abroad,  especially  over  Susquehanna 
River,  I  have  met  with  many  difficulties  and  obstructions. 
The  bodily  fatigues  of  such  journeys  I  need  not  say  much 
about,  though  they  are  not  so  small  to  any  one  who  makes 
the  experiment.  That  road  and  the  difficulties  attending 
it  are  the  same  that  my  brother  has  given  an  account  of 
in  his  printed  journal.  In  my  last  journey  there,  I  tra- 
velled three  days  without  a  house  of  any  sort  whatsoever, 
and,  by  reason  of  the  extreme  badness  of  the  way,  and 
my  horse  being  deeply  laden  with  provisions  for  the  jour- 
ney, I  was  obliged  to  go  almost  the  whole  on  foot.  But 
my  greatest  difficulty  was  the  disappointment  I  met  with 


26o  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

after  I  came  there.  I  found  my  way  hedged  up,  and  an 
immovable  bar  laid  in  my  path,  and  that  principally  by 
the  instrumentality  of  wicked  men,  emissaries  of  Satan, 
who  trade  among  the  Indians:  these  had  persuaded  them 
that  I  was  sent  by  crafty  men  with  a  view  to  bring  them 
into  a  snare,  and  finally  deprive  them  of  their  country 
and  liberties.  Upon  which  the  principal  sachems  would 
not  suffer  me  to  preach ;  but  the  common  sort  of  people, 
being  not  so  credulous  of  these  false  and  groundless  sto- 
ries, would  freely  have  heard  me.  With  these  people  I 
tarried  near  a  fortnight,  and,  visiting  from  house  to  house, 
endeavored  in  a  more  private  manner  to  refute  the  mali- 
cious aspersions  of  the  traders  and  bring  them  into  a  good 
opinion  of  Christianity. 

Want  of  Pecuniary  Means. 

But,  among  other  difficulties,  the  want  of  a  more  lib- 
eral support  has  been  a  great  discouragement  to  me. 
Such  undertakings  as  this  are  very  chargeable,  and  can- 
not be  pursued  to  any  good  purpose  but  at  a  great  ex- 
pense. I  have  been  by  no  means  able  to  take  the  most 
likely  measures  to  convert  the  heathen,  for  want  of  where- 
withal to  support  the  expense  that  must  necessarily  accrue. 
For  instance:  in  my  last  journey  to  Susquehanna  I  was 
obliged  to  go  with  one  Indian  only,  and,  indeed,  had  not 
a  farthing  for  his  encouragement,  but  was  obliged  to  pass 
my  word  that  I  would  pay  him  when  I  could  get  money. 
Soon  after  our  arrival  there,  he  accidentally  lamed  him- 
self, so  that  I  had  him  to  tend,  instead  of  receiving  any 
help  from  him.  And,  to  complete  our  misfortune,  we 
lost  our  horses  (which  we  supposed  were  stolen  by  an 
Indian  trader  who  was  there  at  that  time),  and  found 
them  no  more  during  our  tarrying  in  those  parts,  although 
I  employed  Indians  at  least  a  week  to  look  for  them,  and, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  261 

consequently,  were  put  to  unspeakable  difficulty  in  our 
return  home. 

Now,  if  I  had  had  a  few  pounds  for  the  support  of 
about  half  a  dozen  of  my  Christian  Indians  to  have  gone 
along  with  me,  it  would  not  only  have  saved  me  much 
fatigue,  but,  what  is  vastly  more,  would  in  all  probability 
have  made  my  journey  prosperous.  For  these  Christian 
Indians  could  have  contradicted  and  refuted  the  false  and 
groundless  aspersions  of  the  Indian  traders ;  and,  besides, 
I  could  certainly  have  had  liberty  to  preach  to  my  own 
company,  and  then,  in  all  probability,  had  the  whole 
town  to  hear  me  out  of  curiosity,  as  was  once  the  case  in 
a  former  journey  there.  But  the  want  of  this  rendered 
my  journey,  with  all  its  toil  and  fatigue,  almost  fruitless ; 
and  this  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  instances  too  nume- 
rous to  mention  in  this  place.  On  this  account  I  have 
labored  under  great  discouragement ;  but  I  hope  and  trust 
that,  as  this  work  of  grace  among  the  Indians  comes  to 
be  more  generally  known  and  spread  abroad,  there  will 
be  greater  plenty  of  provision  for  the  promotion  of 
the  same ;  and  may  the  Lord  hasten  the  blissful  time ! 
Upon  the  whole,  although  I  am  feelingly  sensible  of 
many  difficulties  and  discouragements  in  Christianizing 
the  Indians,  yet  I  cannot  but  think  there  has  been  and 
still  is  as  much  encouragement  as  could  rationally  be 
expected  before  any  attempts  of  this  kind  were  made, 
and  that  which  is  sufficient  for  us  still  to  act  upon  and 
to  make  further  attempts  of  this  nature.  There  is 
ground  to  hope  that  within  these  seven  years  last  past 
there  have  been  at  least  forty  persons  savingly  converted 
to  God  even  in  this  small  place,  which  at  most  does  not 
contain  above  two  hundred  souls,  old  and  young,  of  all 
sorts ;  and  were  there  any  spirited  to  go  unto  the  more 
remote  parts,  where  there  are  greater  numbers  of  these 

24 


262  LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD. 

miserable  savages,  who  can  tell  what  the  Lord  will  do ? 
What  a  glorious  prospect  might  soon  open !  What 
numbers  might  we  hope  would  quit  the  service  of  the 
grand  impostor,  and  embrace  the  offers  of  the  blessed 
gospel ! 

But,  in  order  to  this,  proper  measures  must  be  taken, 
and  suitable  provision  made.  This  work,  in  an  ordinary 
way,  cannot  be  accomplished  but  at  great  expense;  and 
would  to  God  it  were  a  thing  of  more  general  concern 
among  Christians !  It  is  affecting,  indeed,  to  see  these 
poor,  benighted  souls  groping  in  darkness  and  perishing 
for  lack  of  vision  while  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel 
is  at  their  next  door;  to  see  them  led  captive  by  the 
prince  of  darkness  while  the  glorious  victory  of  the  all- 
conquering  Jesus,  and  redemption  by  him,  are  proclaimed 
almost  within  their  hearing !  This  is  very  affecting,  in- 
deed, and  I  may  well  say  with  the  poet:  £)uis  talla fando 
temparet  a  la  cry  mi s ;  and  further,  ®£tsque  ipse  miserlma  vidi, 
Oh,  may  the  time  soon  come  when  the  Lord  will  send 
out  many  faithful  laborers,  especially  into  the  highways 
and  hedges,  that  the  poor,  lost,  deluded  heathen  might 
be  gathered  in !  And  may  the  set  time  to  favor  Zion  in 
general  draw  near.  May  the  harvest  be  great,  and  the 
laborers  be  plenteous,  and  you,  reverend  and  honored 
sir,  share  largely  in  the  comforts  and  glories  of  it  in  your 
own  soul  and  in  your  dear  congregation.  My  heart  has 
long  wished  for  the  revival  of  religion  in  Great  Britain, 
as  well  as  in  our  American  parts ;  and  sometimes  I  enter- 
tain hopes  that  the  Lord's  time  is  near.  May  the  latter- 
day  glory  be  hastened,  and  the  British  realms  and  plan- 
tations share  largely  in  the  same. 

Concert  of  Prayer  among  Indians. 
The  Quarterly   Days  of  Prayer  for  the  prosperity  of 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  263 

Zion  are  observed  by  some  in  these  parts,  and  have  been 
very  constantly  attended  in  my  congregation ;  and  some 
of  my  people  have  appeared  very  affectionate  and  warmly 
engaged  at  such  times.  May  the  Lord  hear  and  answer 
the  supplications  of  his  people,  and  cause  his  church  to 
arise  and  flourish,  and  even  become  a  praise  in  the  whole 
earth. 

Gratitude  for  the  Past. 

I  humbly  thank  you,  dear  sir,  for  your  pious  endeavors 
by  letter  to  animate  and  strengthen  me  in  my  arduous  and 
difficult  work ;  I  hope  I  shall  also  be  favored  with  an  in- 
terest in  your  prayers  that  I  may  be  faithful  to  my  trust 
and  successful  in  my  undertaking.  You  was  pleased  to 
encourage  me  likewise  about  using  some  endeavors  to 
afford  me  further  assistance  as  to  outward  things,  and 
desire  me  to  let  you  know  whether  it  would  be  best  sent 
in  money  or  goods.  I  thankfully  acknowledge  your  kind- 
ness, and  must  beg  leave  to  submit  it  to  yourself,  to  do  that 
which  you  can  with  the  greater  convenience ;  either  will 
be  very  acceptable,  and,  if  nothing,  still  I  shall  be  under 
great  obligations  for  what  is  past.  I  bless  God  I  am  not 
in  pinching  necessity,  and  yet,  I  must  needs  say,  my  in- 
come is  much  too  small,  and  I  cannot  well  carry  on  my 
business  without  a  more  liberal  supply.  My  people  are 
most  of  them  extremely  indigent,  and,  instead  of  afford- 
ing me  any  help,  I  am  obliged  continually  to  be  assisting 
them  in  money,  provision,  etc.  Nor  is  it  possible  for  any 
one,  who  has  either  any  bowels  of  compassion  or  concern 
for  the  promotion  of  the  cause,  to  live  among  them  with- 
out. My  annual  allowance  from  the  Society  is  no  more 
than  forty  pounds  *  sterling,  whereas  sundry  of  our  mis- 


*  It  was  increased  to  fifty  pounds  this  year. 


264  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 

sionaries  from  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts  have  sixty,  and  some  seventy,  besides  some- 
thing very  considerable  from  their  people,  I  believe  near 
half  as  much  more.  And,  by  the  way,  whether  that 
money  be  improved  in  the  best  manner,  while  it  is  em- 
ployed to  maintain  missionaries  in  a  populous  and  plen- 
tiful country, — as  New  England,  in  particular,  where,  I 
believe,  there  are  not  less  than  four  hundred  regular  well- 
settled  ministers,  and  the  people  universally  able  to  main- 
tain the  gospel  among  themselves, — whether  it  was  the 
design  of  the  first  founders  of  that  Society,  and  of  the 
present  donors  to  it,  to  sink  thousands  of  pounds  an- 
nually only  to  gratify  a  few  sticklers  for  a  party,*  I  leave 
others  of  more  wisdom  and  knowledge  in  that  affair  to 
determine.  But  I  am  sure  it  has  been  no  small  grief  and 
exercise  of  mind  to  me  to  see  such  sums  of  money  ex- 
pended in  that  manner,  while  our  poor  heathen  neighbors 
lie  almost  utterly  neglected ;  Satan,  the  prince  of  dark- 
ness, suffered  to  reign  in  triumph  among  them,  without  let 
or  molestation,  whole  nations  being  subjected  to  him,  and 
perishing  by  thousands  for  want  of  knowledge.  This  ap- 
pears to  me  one  of  the  most  affecting  things  that  can  be 
mentioned  or  thought  of;  and  I  bless  the  Father  of  Mer- 
cies that  I  am  not  left  to  spend  his  substance  in  such  a  way. 

But  I  am  sensible  I  have  exceeded  the  bounds  of  a 
letter,  and  should  not  have  so  far  presumed  upon  your 
patience  had  it  not  been  for  this  clause  in  yours :  "  And 
let  it  be  a  long  letter  you  write,  giving  me  an  account," 
etc.  This,  sir,  I  hope,  will  excuse  me. 

And  now,  dear  sir,  I  conclude  with  acknowledging  all 


*  Mr.  Brainerd  refers  here  to  Episcopal  missions  in  New  England 
and  New  York,  which  he  regarded  as  sectarian,  as  they  disturbed 
existing  Christian  churches. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  265 

your  kindness  and  goodness  to  me,  and  wishing  that  the 
best  of  blessings  from  above  may  descend  upon  your  person, 
family,  and  flock  ;  that  the  Lord  would  make  your  labors 
abundantly  successful  among  them,  and  bless  you  with  a 
glorious  harvest.  I  would  likewise  desire  a  remembrance 
in  your  addresses  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  me,  my  people, 
and  the  cause  of  God  among  the  Indians.  And,  if  you 
should  have  leisure,  and  think  it  worth  while  to  write, 
please  to  direct  for  me  at  Bethel  in  New  Jersey,  to  the 
care  of  Mr.  William  Grant,  Merchant,  in  Second  Street, 
Philadelphia,  or  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Denny  de  Berdt,  Mer- 
chant, in  Artillery  Court,  Chiswell  Street,  London. 
I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect, 
Reverend  sir, 

Your  much  obliged 

And  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

This  letter  indicates  an  earnest  and  resolute  life. 
It  is  marked  also  by  a  comprehensiveness  of  view 
and  power  of  analysis  and  graphic  description  above 
his  ordinary  efforts,  and  rivalling  his  eminent  bro- 
ther. 

In  this  year,  1752,  Mr.  Brainerd  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Experience  Lyon,  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.  Of  her  past  life,  and  where  or  in  what  style 
they  set  up  housekeeping,  we  know  nothing.  If  he 
took  his  young  wife  with  him  to  Bethel,  the  Indian 
town,  we  may  infer  that 

"Wedded  love's  first  home" 

had    rude   surroundings   and   appointments.     We 
only  know  that  the  union  was  a  happy  one. 


93* 


266  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

VISIT   FROM   EEV.  SAMUEL    DAVIS — LETTEE    TO    SCOTLAND — CHANGE  OF 
FIELD — LETTEES   OF   PEESIDENT   EDWAEDS — EEV.  GIDEON   HAWLEY. 

1753. 

T17E  are  allowed  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Mr.  Brain- 
erd  at  home.  President  Davis,  in  his  tran- 
sit from  Virginia  to  embark  at  New  York  for  Eu- 
rope as  agent  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  spent 
a  little  time  in  New  Jersey.  Under  date  of  Sep- 
tember, 1753,  he  says: — * 

"Lodged  at  Mr.  Brainerd's,  the  good  missionary  among 
the  Indians,  and  was  pleased  with  his  account  of  the  pro- 
gress of  religion  among  them,  though  now  they  are  scat- 
tered by  their  land  being  fraudulently  taken  from  them. 

"  Tuesday. — I  took  a  view  of  the  Indian  town,  and  was 
pleased  with  the  affection  of  the  poor  savages  to  their  min- 
ister, and  his  condescension  to  them.  Rode  on  towards 
Philadelphia,  and  spent  the  time  in  pleasing  conversation, 
principally  on  the  affairs  of  the  Indians,  with  Messrs.  Spen- 
cer, Brainerd,  and  Brown. "f 

*  Davis'  Journal,  in  Foote's  "Sketches  of  Virginia,"  p.  230. 

f  The  Mr.  Brown  here  mentioned  was  probably  the  Eev.  John 
Brown,  of  Fagg's  Manor,  Pa.  He  removed  to  Kentucky  in  1797. 
"  He  died  in  1803,  aged  seventy-five ;  his  wife  died  in  1802,  aged 
seventy-three.  His  eldest  daughter  married  the  Eev.  Thomas  B. 
Craighead,  of  Tennessee.  His  eldest  son,  John,  was  three  times 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  267 

He  says  he  employed  Mr.  Brainerd  to  go  to  Vir- 
ginia, with  others,  to  supply  his  place. 

The  state  of  Brainerd's  mission  at  the  time  of 
President  Davis'  visit  may  be  learned  from  the  fol- 
lowing letter : — 

To  the  Preses  of  the  Society  in  Scotland,  dated  Bethel,  Octo- 
ber 22,  1753. 

Since  my  last  to  your  lordship,*  which  bears  date 
March  2d,  1753,  I  have  steadily  attended  to  the  business 
of  the  mission,  and  have  not  been  absent  from  my  charge 
but  upon  some  necessary  occasions,  and  then  only  for  a 
short  space.  I  have  endeavored  strictly  to  attend  to  my 
commission  and  instructions,  preaching  the  gospel,  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments,  catechizing  both  the  grown 
people  and  the  children,  visiting  my  people,  praying  and 
conversing  with  the  sick,  attending  funerals,  and  watch- 
ing all  opportunities  to  do  them  good.  I  have  constantly 
attended  public  worship  three  times  on  the  Lord's  day, 
steadily  once,  and  sometimes  more,  in  the  rest  of  the 
week;  besides,  I  have  advised  my  people,  especially  of 
late,  to  meet  at  least  one  evening  in  a  week  at  a  private 
house,  which  they  do  in  the  several  parts  of  their  town, 
sometimes  at  one  house,  sometimes  at  another.  This 
meeting  I  have  generally  attended,  and  carry  it  on  by 

elected  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from  Kentucky ;  he 
married  the  only  sister  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  and  died  in 
1837,  aged  eighty.  His  third  son,  James,  was  the  first  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Senate  for  many  years  from  Louisiana,  and  for  six  years  Min- 
ister to  the  Court  of  France.  His  fourth  son,  Samuel,  was  an  emi- 
nent physician,  and  a  Professor  in  the  Transylvania  Medical  Col- 
lege."—  Webster's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  657. 
*  Gillies'  "Historical  Collections."  Glasgow,  1751,  p.  448. 


268  LIFE   OF  JOHN  BR4INERD, 

prayer,  singing  of  psalms  or  hymns,  and  religious  con- 
versation. At  these  meetings  I  address  myself  to  par- 
ticular persons,  inquire  into  the  state  of  their  souls, 
warn,  exhort,  encourage,  etc.,  as  I  see  occasion  ;  and, 
when  I  am  absent,  the  meeting  is  carried  on  by  religious 
conversation,  together  with  prayer  and  singing  of  psalms 
as  above.  My  endeavors,  may  it  please  your  lordship, 
through  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  have  been,  I  hope,  at- 
tended with  some  degree  of  success.  I  have  had  the 
satisfaction  of  admitting  one  adult  person  to  baptism, 
who,  I  trust,  is  a  true  convert  to  God  and  savingly  ac- 
quainted with  Jesus  Christ;  and  sundry  children  have 
been  the  subjects  of  that  divine  ordinance.  I  can  also 
with  pleasure  inform  your  lordship  and  the  Society  that 
many  of  our  former  converts  adorn  their  profession  by  a 
sober,  virtuous  life;  but  some,  I  must  needs  say,  have 
grievously  backslidden,  which  has  been  matter  of  un- 
speakable grief  to  me,  and  done  more  to  exhaust  my 
spirits  and  wear  me  out  than  all  the  bodily  fatigues  I 
have  ever  undergone  in  the  prosecution  of  this  mission. 

Afterwards  he  writes  of  the  great  difficulties  the 
Indians  have  labored  under  of  late  with  regard  to 
their  lands,  and  of  the  lamented  death  of  a  pro- 
mising young  Indian  the  Society  were  educating 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  of  whom  he  says : — 

He  had  been  a  member  of  New  Jersey  College  near 
two  years,  was  much  beloved  by  his  classmates  and  the 
other  scholars,  and  made  a  decent,  handsome  appearance 
among  them.  He  died  of  a  quick  consumption.  I  had 
opportunity  of  conversing  with  him  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  sickness,  and  though  he  was  under  some  darkness, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  269 

yet  his  discourse  was  good  and  discovered  much  of  the 
Christian,  etc. 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

While  Brainerd  found  something  to  cheer  him 
in  his  field,  he  was  not  fully  satisfied  with  it. 
The  Indians  were  disturbed  in  their  land-titles, 
and  uneasy  as  to  the  future.  They  were  few  in 
number,  and  so  insulated  that  good  men  among 
them  could  exert  no  influence  on  the  aborigines  at 
large;  and  they  were  both  hated  and  corrupted 
by  bad  whites  in  the  vicinity.  It  is  not  strange, 
then,  that  he  should  listen  favorably  to  overtures 
for  a  removal  to  a  better  district. 

Mr.  Gideon  Hawley,*  long  a  teacher  under  Pre- 
sident Edwards  at  Stockbridge,  this  year  visited 
and  planned  a  mission  at  Onohquanga  (now  Una- 
dilla),  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Susquehanna,  in 
New  York.  He  desired  John  Brainerd  to  transfer 
his  mission  and  Indians  to  the  same  place:  Presi- 
dent Edwards  favored  the  plan.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Boston  correspondents^  dated  Stockbridge,  April 
12,  1753,  President  Edwards  says: — 

"  Mr.  Brainerd,  the  pastor  of  the  Indian  congregation 
at  Bethel,  New  Jersey,  who  is  supported  by  the  Corre- 
spondents, having  met  with  much  trouble  from  the  ene- 
mies of  religion  in  those  parts,  and  his  Indians  being 
greatly  disturbed  with  regard  to  the  possession  and  im- 

*  Allen's  Biographical  Dictionary,  p.  420. 
f  Edwards'  Life,  pp.  530,  531,  528. 


270  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

provement  of  their  lands,  the  Correspondents  have  of 
late  had  a  disposition  that  he,  with  his  schoolmaster  and 
whole  congregation,  should  remove,  if  a  door  might  be 
opened,  and  take  up  a  new  settlement  somewhere  in  the 
country  of  the  Six  Nations.  Mr.  Hawley  has  seen  Mr. 
Brainerd,  and  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject  this 
spring.  He  manifests  an  inclination  to  such  removal, 
and  says  his  Indians  will  be  ready  for  it.  If  such  a  thing 
as  this  could  be  brought  to  pass,  it  would  probably  tend 
greatly  to  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  and  the  promo- 
tion of  the  interests  of  religion  among  the  Six  Nations, 
as  his  congregation  are,  I  suppose,  the  most  virtuous  and 
religious  collection  of  Indians  in  America,  and  some  of 
them  have  now  been  long  established  in  religion  and 
virtue. 

"There  are  several  towns  of  the  Onohquangas,  and 
several  missionaries  might  probably  find  sufficient  em- 
ployment in  those  parts.  If  Mr.  Brainerd  should  settle 
somewhere  in  that  country  with  his  Christian  Indians, 
and  one  or  two  more  missionaries  not  at  a  great  distance, 
they  might  be  under  advantage  to  assist  one  another;  as 
they  will  greatly  need  one  another's  company  and  assist- 
ance in  so  difficult  a  work  in  such  a  strange,  distant  land. 
They  might  be  under  advantage  to  consult  one  another, 
to  act  in  concert,  and  to  help  one  another  in  any  case  of 
peculiar  difficulty.  Many  English  people  would  be  found 
to  go  from  New  England  and  settle  there,  and  the  great- 
est difficulty  would  be,  that  there  would  be  danger  of  too 
many  English  settlers  and  of  such  as  are  not  fit  for  the 
place. 

"  But,  in  order  to  accomplish  this,  especially  in  order 
to  such  a  body  of  new  Indians  coming  from  the  Jerseys 
and  settling  in  the  country  of  the  Six  Nations,  the  con- 
sent of  those  nations,  or  at  least  of  several  of  them,  must 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  271 

be  obtained.  The  method  which  Mr.  Woodbridge,  Mr. 
Hawley,  and  I,  have  thought  of,  which  we  submit  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  Commissioners,  is  this :  that  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  and  Mr.  Ashley  and  his  wife  should  go  as  speedily 
as  possible  into  the  country  of  the  Conneenchees,  they 
being  the  first  tribe  in  honor,  though  not  in  numbers,  and 
there  spend  some  weeks,  perhaps  a  month,  among  them, 
to  get  acquainted  with  them,  and  endeavor  to  gain  their 
approbation  of  a  mission  for  settling  the  gospel  in  the 
country  of  the  Six  Nations, — Mr.  Hawley  in  the  mean 
time  to  keep  Mr.  Woodbridge's  school.  Then,  that  Mr. 
Hawley  and  Mr.  Gordon  should  join  them  there,  and  go 
with  them  from  thence  to  Onohquanga ;  and,  when  they 
have  acquainted  themselves  well  with  the  people  and  the 
state  of  the  country,  and  find  things  agreeable,  and  see  a 
hopeful  prospect,  then  for  Mr.  Woodbridge  to  return  and 
leave  Mr.  Hawley  and  Mr.  Gordon  there,  and  forthwith 
send  word  to  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  propose  to  him  to  come 
up  with  some  of  his  chief  Indians  to  see  the  country. 
And  if,  on  the  observations  they  make,  and  the  acquaint- 
ance they  get  with  the  people  and  country,  they  believe 
there  is  an  encouraging  prospect,  then  to  endeavor  to 
gain  a  conference  with  some  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Five 
Nations  at  an  appointed  time,  to  know  whether  they  will 
consent  to  their  coming  to  settle  in  their  territories.  All 
this  will  occupy  some  considerable  time ;  so  that,  if  they 
can  obtain  their  consent,  Mr.  Brainerd  must  return  home, 
and  he  and  his  chief  Indians  must  come  again  to  the 
treaty  at  the  time  and  place  appointed. 

****** 

"  Mr.  Brainerd  told  Mr.  Hawley,  that  if  he  removed 
with  his  Indians  he  should  choose  to  do  it  speedily,  and 
that  the  longer  it  was  delayed  the  more  difficult  it  would 
be,  by  reason  of  his  building  and  the  Indians  increasing 


272  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

their  buildings  and  improvements  at  Bethel.  Probably, 
if  the  removal  cannot  be  brought  about  the  next  year,  it 
never  will  be;  and,  if  his  Indians  remove  the  next  year, 
it  will  be  necessary  that  they  remove  as  early  as  the 
spring,  in  order  to  plant  there  that  year.  And,  if  so 
much  needs  to  be  done  this  summer,  it  is  as  much  as  it 
will  be  possible  to  find  time  for." 

In  connection  with  this  migration,  Mr.  Brainerd 
addressed"  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  Hawley: — 

BETHEL,  April  19,  1753. 

To  Mr.  G.  HAWLEY:— 

DEAR  SIR: — Yours  of  the  2d  instant  I  received  last 
evening,  which,  together  with  some  other  letters  from 
London  and  other  parts  of  England  which  came  to  hand 
at  the  same  time,  were  very  refreshing  and  comfortable. 
Nothing  in  the  world  ever  animates  and  cheers  my  spirits 
like  the  observation  or  news  of  something  that  gives  a 
prospect  of  spreading  the  gospel  among  the  poor  Indians. 

This  is  the  object  my  heart  has  been  upon  for  many 
years:  when  I  have  engaged  in  this  desirable  business, 
or  any  thing  that  I  could  think  had  a  tendency  to  pro- 
mote it,  then  only  did  I  breathe  in  my  own  proper  air, — 
I  enjoy  myself.  But,  alas !  I  have  been  miserably  fet- 
tered and  pinioned  since  I  have  been  employed  in  this 
excellent  undertaking. 

The  situation  of  the  Indians  I  have  had  the  peculiar 
charge  of  being  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
any  considerable  number  of  Indians  elsewhere,  and  my 
annual  income  far  short  of  what  was  necessary  in  order 
to  carry  on  such  a  design,  I  have  never  been  satisfied 
with  this  place  since  my  first  engaging  in  this  business, 
and  have  been  from  time  to  time  using  endeavors  to  pro- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  273 

cure  one  better  suited  to  the  important  design  of  spread- 
ing the  gospel  among  the  Indians;  but  as  yet  Providence 
has  not  opened  a  door  for  our  remove.  Of  late,  how- 
ever, there  seems  to  be  a  great  prospect  of  it.  Some  of 
our  principal  Indians  have  lately  disposed  of  a  great  part 
of  the  land  on  which  they  live,  notwithstanding  all  we 
could  do  to  the  contrary;  and  it  is  finally  gone  from 
them,  so  that  now  they  have  not  enough  to  subsist  upon 
long.  Just  at  this  juncture  there  came  a  messenger  from 
the  Six  Nations,  and  two  or  three  nations  more,  with 
wampum,  etc.,  inviting  our  Indians  to  go  and  live  at 
Whawomung,*  on  the  Susquehanna, — a  place  I  have 
visited  several  times.  They  (the  Six  Nations)  offer  to 
give  land  for  them  and  their  children  forever,  and  that 
they  shall  be  abridged  of  none  of  their  privileges,  etc. 
Our  Indians,  after  two  days'  consideration,  thought  best 
to  accept  the  offer  their  uncle  was  pleased  to  make  them, 
and  accordingly  agreed  to  remove  there  about  this  time 
twelvemonths.  I  was  present  at  their  consultations  on 
this  head,  and  laid  every  thing  before  them  in  the  best 
manner  I  could,  and  then  left  them  to  determine  for 
themselves. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  I  don't  see  why  the  plan 
of  going  to  Onohquanga  might  not  be  prosecuted ;  for, 
if  all  things  suit  there,  I  am  inclined  to  think  our  Indians 
would  be  as  well  pleased  to  move  to  that  place  as  Wha- 
womung, if  they  had  the  same  invitation  to  the  former 
as  the  latter.  And  though  they  should  be  actually  re- 
moved as  above,  yet,  if  we  could  be  admitted  to  live 
among  the  Oneidas,  the  report  of  our  being  there  would 
soon  cause  them  to  supplicate  their  uncle  for  liberty  to 
come  there  too. 


Wyoming. 
24 


274  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

For  my  part,  I  am  heartily  willing  to  make  trial,  and 
earnestly  desirous,  if  the  Lord  in  his  providence  should 
open  a  door,  to  spend  my  life  in  their  service.  But  my 
taking  a  journey  with  you  this  ensuing  summer  must  de- 
pend very  much  upon  the  determination  of  the  Corre- 
spondents ;  and  whether  it  will  be  best  or  not,  I  am  not 
able  to  say.  The  spring,  I  imagine,  is  much  the  best 
time,  but  it  is  impracticable  for  me  to  go  this  spring:  as 
things  appear  to  me  at  present,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
we  had  best  defer  the  journey  till  next  spring.  But  time 
and  consultation  on  this  head  may  better  determine  what 
is  duty  in  that  regard.  Let  us  in  the  mean  time  be  wait- 
ing upon  God,  and  have  our  eyes  to  him  who  only  can 
make  our  endeavors  effectual. 

I  was  never  more  desirous  of  prosecuting  the  Indian 
affairs  than  now;  and,  though  many  things  look  discou- 
raging, yet  I  cannot  but  hope  and  pray  that  God  will  yet 
do  great  and  glorious  things  among  the  poor  Indians :  let 
us  be  instant  in  prayer  to  God  for  so  great  a  blessing. 

Please  to  present  my  humble  regards  to  Mr.  Edwards 
and  his  worthy  consort,  in  which  my  wife  joins ;  and  ac- 
cept affectionate  regards  from, 

Sir,  your  humble  servant, 

J.  BRAINERD. 

Why  this  plan  was  not  carried  out  we  are  not 
accurately  informed :  probably  the  Correspondents 
changed  their  purpose.  President  Edwards  says : 
"they  have  altered  their  determination  from  time 
to  time  with  respect  to  Mr.  Brainerd  and  his  In- 
dians."* Had  the  project  been  realized,  it  would 
hardly  have  procrastinated  the  fate  of  the  Indians, 

*  Edwards'  Life,  ]..  553. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD.  275 

as  the  French  War  drove  Hawley  from  the  Iro- 
quois  nation  in  1756,  and  broke  up  his  mission. 
Good  men  planned,  struggled,  and  prayed  to  avert 
their  destiny,  but  the  annihilation  of  the  abori- 
gines seemed  to  be  what  no  philanthropy  or  piety 
could  prevent.* 


*  Manuscript  records  of  the  Society  in  Edinburgh,  January,  March, 
and  June,  1754. 


2j6  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ELECTED  A  TEUSTEE  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY  —  CORRESPOND- 
ENCE BEGUN  WITH  THE  REV.  ELEAZAR  WHEELOCK,  OF  LEBANON, 
CONN. 

1754. 


rTlHE  project  for  settling  Brainerd's  Indians  on 
the  Susquehanna,  we  have  seen,  failed.  An- 
other effort  was  made,  by  purchase,  to  secure  for 
them  a  tract  of  land  of  above  four  thousand  acres 
in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  ;  and  it  marks  the  gene- 
rosity of  Christians  in  England,  that  they  were 
willing  to  advance  the  money.  The  Edinburgh 
Society  in  their  minutes  endorsed  the  proposition, 
and  voted  a  large  sum  for  its  accomplishment; 
but  the  whole  matter  ultimately  failed. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  regarded  the  Indian 
mission  from  the  outset  with  great  tenderness, 
and  seemed  to  place  an  abiding  confidence  in  Mr. 
Brainerd.  In  1752  they  "ordered  the  collections 
for  Indian  missions  to  be  put  into  his  hands,  to  be 
disposed  of  by  the  Correspondents  for  Indian  af- 
fairs." They  also  directed  him,  in  1753,  to  "sup- 
ply" for  four  weeks  in  Hanover,  Va.,  but  very  pro- 
perly, in  1754,  excused  his  not  going. 

May  8th  of  this  year,  Mr.  Brainerd  was  elected 
a  trustee  of  the  College  of  Princeton,  and  held  the 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  277 

office  twenty-six  years,  until  his  death  in  1781. 
It  may  gratify  curiosity  to  know  that  there  were 
present  at  his  election  Governor  Belcher,  Hon. 
William  Smith,  Samuel  Woodruff,  Esq.,  President 
Aaron  Burr,  John  Pierson,  Richard  Treat,  William 
Tennent,  David  Cowell,  John  Frelinghuysen,  Jacob 
Green,  Elihu  Spencer,  and  Caleb  Smith.  Most  of 
these  names  are  historical,  and  cherished  by  the 
Church. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  a  correspondence 
was  opened  with  the  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock,  of 
Lebanon,  Conn.,  afterwards  President  of  Dart- 
mouth College. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wheelock  had  established  a  school  in 
Lebanon  of  English  boys.  Sampson  Occum,  a  Mo- 
hican Indian,  solicited  admission  into  this  school  in 
1743,  and  remained  some  five  years  in  the  family 
of  Dr.  Wheelock.  In  consequence  of  the  educa- 
tion of  Occum,  Dr.  Wheelock  was  induced  to  form 
the  plan  of  an  Indian  missionary  school. 

"  He  conceived  that  educated  Indians  would  be  more 
successful  than  whites  as  missionaries  among  the  red 
men.  The  project  was  new;  for  the  labors  of  Sergeant 
and  the  Brainerds,  as  well  as  those  of  Eliot  and  the 
Mayhews,  were  the  labors  of  missionaries  among  the  In- 
dians, and  not  labors  to  form  a  band  of  Indian  mission- 
aries."* 

Under  date  of  December  16,  1762,  in  "  A  Nar- 


*  Allen's  Biographical  Dictionary,  p.  844. 
24* 


27^  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

rative  from  Eleazar  Wheelock,  Pastor  of  a  Church 
at  Lebanon,  and  of  the  Indian  Charity  School," 
dedicated  to  the  Marquis  of  Lothian,  he  says: — * 

"With  these  views  of  the  case,  and  from  such  motives 
as  have  been  mentioned,  above  eight  years  ago  I  wrote 
to  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  missionary  in  New  Jersey, 
desiring  him  to  send  me  two  likely  boys  for  this  purpose 
of  the  Delaware  tribe.  He  accordingly  sent  me  John 
Pumshire,  in  the  fourteenth,  and  Jacob  Woolley,  in  the 
eleventh  years  of  their  age.  They  arrived  here  Decem- 
ber 1 8,  1754,  and  behaved  as  well  as  could  be  reasonably 
expected.  Pumshire  made  uncommon  proficiency  in 
writing.  They  continued  with  me  until  they  had  made 
considerable  progress  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  tongues, 
when  Pumshire  began  to  decline,  and,  by  the  advice  of 
physicians,  I  sent  him  back  to  his  friends  with  orders,  if 
his  health  would  allow,  to  return  with  two  more  of  that 
nation  whom  Mr.  Brainerd  had,  at  my  desire,  provided 
for  me.  Pumshire  set  out  on  his  journey  November  14. 

1756,  and   got  home,  but  soon  died;    and,  on  April  9, 

1757,  Joseph  Woolleyf  and  Hezekiah  Calvin  came  on 
the  horse  which  Pumshire  rode." 


*  Narrative  from  Eleazar  Wheelock,  etc.  (Philadelphia  Library), 
p.  39. 

f  As  the  name  of  this  lad  will  often  occur,  \ve  give  a  little  sketch 
of  him: — 

"Joseph  Woolley  was  a  Delaware.  He  was  sent  by  Mr.  John  Brainerd  to  Dr.  Whee- 
lock s  school,  where  he  arrived  with  Hezekiah  Calvin,  another  Delaware,  April  9,  1757. 
lie  spent  the  winter  of  1764  at  Onohoghquage,  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the  Iroquois 
language.  He  was  licensed  to  teach  in  the  spring  cf  1765,  and  set  out  shortly  after  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Smith  on  his  return  to  his  j<revious  post  at  the  Susquehanna  River;  but  he  fell 
sick  at  Cherry  Valley,  and  died  in  the  course  of  the  same  year.  He  is  represented  as  of  an 
amiable  disposition  and  polished  manners." — Documentary  History  oj  New  lark,  p.  342. 

We  insert  also  the  following  letter,  as  a  specimen  of  his  style: — 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  279 

The  mutual  concern  of  Dr.  Wheelock  and  John 
Brainerd  for  the  Indians,  the  desire  of  Dr.  Whee- 
lock to  procure  hopeful  pupils,  and  the  interest  of 
Brainerd  in  those  he  had  sent  so  far  from  home, 
furnish  the  staple  of  their  written  correspondence, 
which  was  frequent  and  affectionate.  Dr.  Whee- 
lock's  letters  are  not  at  hand;  but  our  venerable 
friend,  Dr.  William  Allen,  of  Northampton,  who 
married  a  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  sen., 
has  kindly  furnished  us  with  more  than  thirty 
original  letters  from  John  Brainerd  to  President 
Wheelock.  The  first  of  these  letters  accompanied 
the  two  Indian  boys  referred  to  in  Dr.  Wheelock's 
narrative. 

BETHEL,  November  27,  1754. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR: — 

Yours  of  October  3Oth  came  to  hand  about  a  fortnight 

" Ahitratt  of  a  Lttttr  from  Josefh  ffoolley,  an  Indian  of  tfii  Dtlawan  nation,  Schoolmaster 
\  tin  the  Mohawk,  to  Rev.  Mr.  fPheeloct. 

"JOHNSON  HALL,  July,  1765. 
"REVEREND  AND   HONORED  SIR: — 

"  The  language  of  my  heart  is,  to  contribute  the  little  mite  I  have  to  the  living  God, 
and  be  in  his  service.  My  soul  seems  to  be  more  and  more  upon  the  perishing  pagans  in 
these  woods.  I  long  for  the  conversion  of  their  souls,  that  they  may  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  and  be  saved. 

u  But,  oh,  what  reason  have  I  to  be  ashamed  before  God,  and  confess  my  corrupt  nature 
and  lukewarmness  in  the  things  of  religion  that  I  live  no  nearer  to  him  !  It  is  worth  while 
to  go  mourning  all  my  day.  Oh,  it  is  impossible  to  express  the  things  I  mean  !  My  heart 
feels  sorry  for  the  poor  Indians,  that  they  know  no  more  about  our  crucified  Saviour;  and  I 
wish  I  was  made  able  to  teach  and  instruct  them.  And  I  shall  do  whatsoever  lies  in  my 
power  to  tell  them  of  Christ,  as  long  as  I  tarry :  I  feel  ashamed  that  I  have  done  no  more 
towards  it. 

"  I  hope  you  enjoy  your  health,  which  I  wish  may  long  continue.  I  have  no  more  to 
say,  but  that  I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  myself,  and  be  esteemed, 

"  Your  dutiful  and  most  humble  servant, 

"JOSEPH  WOOLLEY."* 


*  AYIicelnok's  Narrative,  pp.  40,  41. 


z8o  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

ago :  I  rejoice  to  be  informed  of  your  welfare,  both  per- 
gonal  and  relative.  We  also,  through  Divine  Goodness, 
enjoy  many  comforts,  and  join  in  cordial  salutations  to 
you  and  Mrs.  Wheelock. 

I  have  sent  the  Indian  boys  mentioned  in  my  last,  not 
without  some  reluctance  and  a  great  deal  of  concern. 
But  I  heartily  join  with  you  in  saying:  "The  Lord  grant 
his  blessing,  or  defeat  the  attempt." 

yohn  Pumshire. 

The  biggest  boy  has  been  with  me;  and  I  must  needs 
say  I  have  been  somewhat  disappointed  in  him,  both  as  to 
his  natural  abilities  and  the  temper  of  his  mind.  Neither 
his  judgment  nor  memory  is  as  good  as  I  thought,  before 
I  had  a  particular  acquaintance;  and  yet  I  cannot  but 
hope  he  may  do  pretty  well  in  that  respect.  The  temper 
of  mind  he  has  shown  also  has  given  me  much  uneasi- 
ness, especially  of  late :  I  find  he  has  never  had  any 
government.  I  have  taken  much  pains  with  him,  and 
thought  several  times  that  I  must  have  given  him  up. 
Correction,  it  is  highly  probable,  he  will  stand  in  abso- 
lute need  of:  he  must  by  no  means  be  humored  and 
made  much  of.  He  is  proud,  very  high-spirited,  and  has 
too  great  a  conceit  of  himself,  which  must  be  mitigated 
and  mortified. 

Jacob  Woolley, 

The  little  one,  I  think,  is  a  boy  of  a  good  natural  tem- 
per: he  seems  to  discover  something  of  it  in  his  coun- 
tenance. But  I  believe  he  also  has  had  his  head  very 
much ;  for  he  has  had  nobody  to  take  care  of  him  but 
an  aged  grandmother  of  near  fourscore,  and  will  doubt- 
less stand  in  need  of  some  discipline. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  2*1 

How  Indian  pupils  should  be  treated. 

The  best  way,  according  to  my  humble  opinion,  to 
manage  with  the  Indians  is  to  treat  them  with  kindness, 
and  such  as  shall  make  them  see  that  we  are  their  real 
friends  and  hearty  well-wishers;  but  that  we  owe  them 
nothing,  are  under  no  obligation  to  show  them  any  spe- 
cial favors,  nor  (personally  considered)  expect  any  thing 
from  them;  that  what  we  do  is  out  of  pity  to  them,  and 
from  a  concern  for  their  good,  and  that  (as  God's  instru- 
ments) they  are  greatly  beholden  to  us  for  it ;  that  we  do 
not  despise  them  for  their  color,  but  for  their  heathenish 
temper  and  practices ;  and  that  when  they  become  Chris- 
tians, and  behave  as  becomes  such,  they  shall  have  the  same 
treatment  as  white  people.  After  such  a  manner  these  In- 
dian boys  should  be  treated :  they  must  by  no  means  be 
more  made  of  than  other  children  of  their  age,  either  by 
the  Master  or  the  people  belonging  to  the  town,  and,  if 
they  behave  well,  they  doubtless  ought  to  have  as  kind 
and  good  treatment  in  all  respects.  Peter  Tottany,  who 
died  about  the  end  of  his  second  year  in  college,  had  all 
the  privileges  of  other  scholars;  and  this  point  was  deter- 
mined in  a  full  meeting  of  the  Society's  correspondents 
in  New  York.  And  his  classmates  treated  him  with  the 
same  respect  as  others,  eating,  lodging,  walking  with  him,  etc. 

Indians  likewise,  whenever  they  go  into  a  Christian 
house,  should  hear  something  that  is  good,  something  of 
religion,  or  at  least  something  that  is  virtuous  and  savory. 
Nothing  in  the  world  is  of  so  much  disservice  to  the  good 
design  of  Christianizing  the  Indians  as  the  unchristian 
behavior  and  conversation  of  those  who  call  themselves 
Christians.  I  hope  there  is  little  danger  of  this  among 
your  people,  who  have  been  celebrated  for  religion,  and 
trust  that  these  Indian  boys,  as  they  may  be  occasionally 


282  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

at  any  of  their  houses,  will  (on  the  other  hand)  meet  with 
such  treatment  as  will  abundantly  recommend  Christianity 
to  them.  Every  one  should  look  upon  it  as  his  duty  to 
help  forward  so  pious  and  public  a  design.  It  belongs  to 
thousands  to  endeavor  the  Christianizing  of  the  Indians, 
as  well  as  to  us ;  it  is  as  really  their  duty,  and  would  be 
every  way  as  much  to  their  advantage,  as  ours.  If  the 
country  in  general  were  sensible  of  the  obligation  that 
lies  upon  them  in  this  regard,  how  would  they  exert 
themselves,  how  freely  would  they  disburse  of  their  sub- 
stance, and  what  pains  would  they  take  to  accomplish 
this  great  and  good  work!  The  Lord  hasten  the  time 
when  this  shall  be  universal ! 

But  to  return :  a  prudent  care  must  be  taken  with 
regard  to  these  boys,  to  treat  them  with  kindness  and 
Christian  respect,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  to  keep  them 
at  a  proper  distance,  which,  to  be  sure,  must  be  carefully 
observed.  May  the  Lord  give  direction  and  add  his 
blessing  to  the  pious  endeavors  of  you  and  your  dear 
people ! 

With  respect  to  clothing,  I  have  observed  your  orders 
especially  as  to  the  little  boy,  who  was  naked  and  miser- 
ably 1 y  when  I  took  him  a  day  or  two  ago  from  his 

home.  We  have  done  the  best  we  could  to  clean  him, 
and  I  hope  he  will  carry  nothing  with  him  but  what  he 
should:  however,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  inspect  that 
matter  a  little. 

I  conclude  with  wishing  that  a  blessing  from  Heaven 
may   attend    all   our  attempts   for   the  advancement   of 
Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world,  that  multitudes  may  be 
brought  in  and  the  earth  be  filled  with  his  glory. 
Your  brother  and  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRJINERD.  283 

The  paternal  anxiety  of  the  good  missionary  for 
the  young  Indians  sent  far  from  home,  and  the  ex- 
cellent suggestions  he  gives  for  their  mental  and 
moral  training,  will  strike  every  mind.  His  max- 
ims for  teachers  of  these  Indian  youths  apply  with 
almost  equal  force  to  those  engaged  in  elevating 
the  freedmen  of  the  South.  What  the  degraded 
and  ignorant  require  is  not  morbid  fondness  and 
fanatical  caressing,  but  the  substantial  kindness 
which  will  inspire  confidence,  conjoined  with  the 
healthful  restraint  and  dignified  authority  adapted 
to  beget  respect. 

The  year  1754  closed  gloomily  on  the  mission- 
ary and  his  people.  They  were  becoming  land- 
less, homeless,  and  scattered,  and  their  missionary 
anxious  and  active,  but  despondent.  Bethel,  the 
Indian  town  in  New  Jersey,  to  procure  which  as 
their  permanent  home  David  Brainerd  had  paid 
the  debts  of  the  Indians,  amounting  to  some  ninety 
pounds,  and  had  aided  them  to  clear  its  forests  with 
his  own  labor,  was  now  passing  from  their  hands 
forever.  As  in  the  more  recent  case  of  the  Chero- 
kees  in  1832,  the  fire  on  the  hearthstone  of  the 
Indian  cabin  was  to  be  extinguished,  and  its  walls 
levelled,  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  cupidity  of  men  boast- 
ing of  their  civilization  and  refinement.  No  won- 
der the  Indian  tribes  have  perished.  Men  like  the 
Brainerds,  the  Wheelocks,and  Worcesters,  delayed, 
but  could  not  prevent,  their  annihilation. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

ACTION   OF   THE   SCOTCH   SOCIETY — INDIAN   LANDS  LOST — ME.  BEAINEED 
DISMISSED — GOES  TO   NEWARK,  N.  J. — HIS   LETTER. 

1755. 

fTlHE  defeat  of  General  Braddock  on  the  Monon- 
gahela,  July  8th  of  this  year,  giving  the  In- 
dians a  lofty  idea  of  French  power  and  prowess 
and  a  corresponding  contempt  for  English  author- 
ity, roused  the  whole  border  tribes  to  hostility,  so 
that  it  required  all  the  skill  of  statesmen  and  the 
persuasion  of  missionaries  to  keep  even  the  Dela- 
wares,  the  Oneidas,  and  other  half-civilized  nations 
from  wielding  the  tomahawk.  It  is  thought  by 
able  men  that  the  missions  of  Bethel  and  Bethle- 
hem, of  Stockbridge  and  Oneida,  prevented  the 
tide  of  blood  from  flowing  over  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey. 

"The  Indian  settlement  of  Stockbridge,  though  in  the 
very  road  of  the  Indians  from  Canada,  remained  secure 
and  unmolested,  also  Sheffield  and  New  Marlboro;  while 
other  parts  of  New  England  suffered  severely."* 

But  we  are  anticipating  events. 

*  American  Magazine.     Philadelphia,  1757. 


As  a  sequence  to  the  troubled  state  of  the  coun- 
try in  1755,  we  find  the  following  action  of  the 
Scotch  Society.  We  give  a  large  extract,  as  the 
Minutes  develop  facts  entirely  new  to  us,  and 
which,  we  think,  will  be  new  to  our  readers: — 

Extract  from  Minutes,  dated  Edinburgh,  6th  November, 

1755- 

"The  Committee  reported,  that  since  last  General 
Meeting  they  have  received  a  letter,  dated  the  tenth  of 
June,  from  their  Correspondents  at  New  York,  bearing 
that  the  Indians  at  Bethel,  having  parted  with  their  lands, 
would  soon  be  obliged  to  move  from  that  place ;  that  by 
reason  of  the  present  dangerous  situation  of  the  back  part 
of  the  country,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  open  a  mis- 
sion there  this  year;  that  therefore  the  Correspondents 
had  dismissed  Mr.  Brainerd  from  his  charge,  and  that 
his  dismission  took  place  from  the  seventh  of  May  last ; 
that,  in  order  to  keep  the  Indian  congregation  together, 
the  Correspondents  had  agreed  to  give  Mr.  William  Ten- 
nent  twenty-five  pounds  sterling  per  annum  for  visiting 
that  congregation  once  a  week,  catechizing  their  chil- 
dren, and  sometimes  on  the  Lord's  day  to  administer  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  them ;  that,  as  the 
settlements  on  Indian  lands  are  very  precarious,  the  titles 
being  in  the  chiefs,  who  are  easily  cheated  out  of  their 
property,  the  Correspondents  propose,  as  the  most  likely 
method  of  propagating  the  gospel  there  to  good  purpose, 
that  the  Society  should  either  purchase  a  tract  of  land 
where  it  would  be  most  convenient  for  the  Indians  to 
settle  in,  or  apply  to  the  government  for  a  tract  of  unap- 
propriated lands  for  that  purpose.  That  the  Committee, 
having  considered  the  said  letter,  are  of  opinion  that,  in 


286  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

respect  of  the  present  disturbances  in  that  corner,  it  is 
impracticable  at  this  time  to  make  the  purchase  therein 
proposed,  and  therefore  delay  further  consideration  of 
that  part  of  the  letter  till  these  disturbances  are  settled. 
But,  for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  said  letter,  the 
Committee  approved  of  Mr.  Brainerd  being  dismissed 
and  of  the  Correspondents  giving  twenty-five  pounds 
per  annum  to  Mr.  Tennent  for  his  services  among  the 
Indians,  and  ordered  that  the  Correspondents  be  made 
acquainted  thereof,  and  at  the  same  time  to  notify  to 
the  Society  the  most  convenient  tract  of  unappropriated 
ground  for  which  application  might  be  made  to  the  gov- 
ernment for  the  purpose  above  mentioned." 

Mr.  Brainerd's  own  account  of  this  transaction 
is  as  follows : — 

The  proprietors  laid  claim  to  the  land,  and  sued  the 
Indians  for  trespass,  which  put  an  end  to  our  schemes 
and  threw  all  into  confusion.  We  then  turned  our 
thoughts  towards  Susquehanna,  and  were  attempting  to 
provide  a  settlement  for  the  Indians  there,  when,  hostili- 
ties breaking  out  on  the  frontiers,  the  most  barbarous 
murders  were  committed  •,  which  entirely  defeated  our 
design  and  put  a  final  stop  to  all  further  attempts  of  that 
nature. 

And  now,  things  being  in  su*ch  a  situation,  the  Cor- 
respondents thought  proper  to  dismiss  me  from  the  So- 
ciety's service,  which  they  did  in  May,  1755.  I  was 
then  in  New  England,  and  upon  my  return  had  an  invi- 
tation to  Newark,  which,  with  the  advice  of  the  Presby- 
tery, I  accepted.* 

*  Brainerd's  letter  in  Sprague'p  AnnaK  vol.  iii.  p.  151. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  287 

At  this  late  day,  the  dismission  of  Mr.  Brainerd 
by  the  Correspondents  strikes  us  as  abrupt  and 
premature.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of 
the  panic  and  confusion  of  the  times.  Mr.  Brain- 
erd makes  no  complaint;  but  his  language  indi- 
cates surprise  and  wounded  feeling.  It  probably 
grew  out  of  some  temporary  disagreement. 

President  Edwards,  with  his  accustomed  calm 
and  kind  judgment,  was  so  hurt  by  it  that  he  in- 
terfered in  the  matter.  He  says,  April  10, 1756  :— 

"With  respect  to  Mr.  Hawley  and  Mr.  Brainerd,  and 
their  Indians,  concerning  which  you  desire  to  be  informed, 
the  Correspondents  have  altered  their  determination  from 
time  to  time  with  respect  to  Mr.  Brainerd  and  his  Indians. 
They  seemed  inclined  at  first  to  their  removal  to  Waw- 
woming,  alias  Wyoming,  and  then  to  Onohquanga,  and 
then  to  Wyoming  again ;  and  finally,  about  twelve  months 
ago,  they  wholly  dismissed  him  from  employ  as  a  mission^ 
ary  to  the  Indians,  and  pastor  to  the  Indian  church  at 
Bethel.  I  cannot  say  I  am  fully  satisfied  with  their  con- 
duct in  doing  this  so  hastily,  nor  do  I  pretend  to  know  so 
much  concerning  the  reasons  of  their  conduct  as  to  have 
sufficient  grounds  positively  to  condemn  their  proceed- 
ings. However,  the  congregation  is  not  wholly  left  as  a 
sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and  are  in  part  committed  to 
the  care  of  Mr.  William  Tennent,  who  lives  not  far  off, 
and  is  a  faithful,  zealous  minister,  who  visits  them  and 
preaches  to  them  once  a  week,  but,  I  think,  not  often 
upon  the  Sabbath.  The  last  fall  I  was  in  Philadelphia 
and  New  Jersey,  and  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Correspondents,  when  Mr.  Tennent  gave  an  agreeable 
account  of  the  then  present  state  of  these  Indians  with 


288  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

respect  to  religion,  and  also  of  their  being  in  better  cir- 
cumstances as  to  their  lands  than  they  had  been.  Mr. 
Brainerd  was  then  at  Newark  with  his  family,  where  he 
had  been  preaching  as  a  probationer  for  settlement  ever 
since  Mr.  Burr's  dismission  from  that  place  on  account 
of  his  business  as  president  of  the  college.  But  whether 
Mr.  Brainerd  is  settled,  or  is  like  to  settle,  there,  I  have 
not  heard. 

"  At  the  forementioned  meeting  of  the  Correspond- 
ents I  used  some  arguments  to  induce  them  to  re-esta- 
blish Mr.  Brainerd  in  his  former  employ  with  his  Indians, 
and  to  send  them  to  Onohquanga.  But  I  soon  found  it 
would  be  fruitless  to  urge  the  matter.  What  was  chiefly 
insisted  as  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  Mr.  Brainerd's  going 
with  his  family  so  far  in  the  wilderness  was  Mrs.  Brain- 
erd's very  infirm  state.  Whether  there  was  indeed  any 
sufficient  objection  to  such  a  removal  at  that  time  or  no, 
Divine  Providence  has,  since  that,  so  ordered  the  state 
and  consequences  of  the  war  subsisting  here  in  America 
that  insuperable  objections  are  laid  in  the  way  of  their 
removal  either  to  Onohquanga,  Wawwoming,  or  any 
other  parts  of  America  that  way.  The  French,  by  their 
indefatigable  endeavors  with  the  nation  of  the  Delawares, 
so  called  from  their  ancient  seat  about  Delaware  River, 
though  now  chiefly  residing  on  the  Susquehanna  and  its 
branches,  have  stirred  them  up  to  make  war  on  the  Eng- 
lish ;  and  dreadful  have  been  the  ravages  and  desolations 
which  they  have  made  of  late  on  the  back  parts  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  Jersey.  They  are  the  principal  nation 
inhabiting  the  parts  about  Susquehanna  River,  on  which 
both  Wyoming  and  Onohquanga  stand.  The  latter,  in- 
deed, is  above  the  bounds  of  their  country,  but  yet  not 
very  far  from  them ;  and  the  Delaware  Indians  are  fre- 
quently there,  as  they  go  to  and  fro ;  on  which  account 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  289 

there  is  great  danger  that  Mr.  Hawley's  mission  and  min- 
istry there  will  be  entirely  broken  up.  Mr.  Hawley  came 
from  there  about  two  months  ago  with  one  of  my  sons,* 
about  ten  years  old,  who  had  been  there  with  him  near  a 
twelvemonth  to  learn  the  Mohawk  language. "f 

How  Brainerd  regarded  the  whole  matter  is 
shown  by  the  following  letter  to  Dr.  Wheelock : — 

NEWARK,  May  17,  1755, 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

I  received  yours  of  April  28th  by  Mr.  Williams,  and 
shall  endeavor  to  have  a  strict  regard  to  your  orders  re- 
specting a  schoolmaster,  and  do  my  best  in  that  affair. 

I  came  to  town  last  evening,  and  had  but  a  few  minutes 
with  the  president,!  by  reason  of  company  and  his  setting 
out  for  York  this  morning,  but  expect  to  see  him  upon 
his  return,  and  shall  endeavor  to  engage  him  in  the  mat- 
ter. And,  oh,  I  wish  Heaven  may  succeed  the  enter- 
prise, and  every  other  attempt  for  the  conversion  of  the 
poor  Indians  to  Christianity! 

I  am  still  in  a  great  plunge.  I  hope  I  am  desirous  to 
know  the  will  of  God,  but  am  at  a  great  loss.  I  am  told 
by  the  president  that  I  was  dismissed 'from  my  charge  as 
missionary  about  the  yth  instant,  and  that  the  people  of 
Newark  have  since  had  a  society  meeting,  and  voted 
unanimously  to  give  me  a  call  upon  probation ;  or,  if 

*  This  was  Jonathan  Edwards,  D.D.,  jun.,  afterwards  President  of 
Union  College. 

f  President  Edwards'  letter  to  Eev.  Mr.  McCulloch,  Scotland. 

J  President  Aaron  Burr,  of  New  Jersey  (Princeton)  College,  which, 
then  in  its  infancy,  was  located  at  Newark.  It  seems  to  have  tra- 
velled with  its  presidents.  Under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Dickinson 
it  was  located  at  Elizabethtown,  his  residence. 

25* 


290  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

there  were  one  or  two  that  did  not  vote,  there  was  not 
one  that  negatived  it.  This  seems  to  look  like  a  call  in 
Providence,  and  certainly  suggests  duty.  But,  for  my 
part,  I  cannot  but  look  upon  myself  as  very  unequal  to 
the  work,  and  can  truly  say  I  had  rather  continue  in  the 
mission  if  any  suitable  provision  could  be  made  for  the 
re-settlement  of  the  Indians  and  the  comfortable  support 
of  the  mission ;  and,  to  be  sure,  I  have  been  very  far 
from  desiring  a  dismission.  But  who  can  tell  what  the 
designs  of  Infinite  Wisdom  are?  I  hope  I  feel  some- 
thing of  a  disposition  to  say :  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have 
me  to  do?  I  intend  to  open  my  heart  to  the  Presbytery, 
who  are  to  sit  in  about  ten  days'  time :  perhaps  I  may  get 
some  light.  You  will,  I  trust,  not  be  unmindful  of  me, 
though,  indeed,  I  am  not  worthy  of  a  thought.  I  need, 
greatly  need,  the  prayers  of  the  Lord's  servants,  though 
I  am  very  undeserving. 

Please  to  present  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock, 
in  which  my  wife  joins,  and  accept  the  same  from, 
Reverend  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

The  spirit  of  this  communication  is  most  beau- 
tiful. How  humble,  submissive,  devout,  and  be- 
nevolent! There  is  in  it  a  tenderness,  naivete, 
simplicity,  and  unselfishness,  marking  the  writer 
as  eminently  Christian, — "a  child  of  God."  It 
were  well  if  we  had  more  of  this  spirit  in  all  our 
hearts. 

Aside  from  its  piety,  the  letter  is  shaded  with 
sadness.  Invited  as  the  successor  of  President 
Burr  to  the  church  in  Newark,  then  and  now  one 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  291 

of  the  strongest  and  most  influential  in  the  land, 
John  Brainerd  is  cheered  by  no  gratified  ambition, 
by  no  prospect  of  augmented  salary,  or  more  elite 
social  enjoyments.  His  heart  is  with  his  Indians, 
— "with  his  few  sheep  in  the  wilderness." 

The  Synod  of  New  York  this  year  appointed 
"Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Spencer  to  take  a  journey 
to  North  Carolina  before  winter,  and  supply  va- 
cant congregations  six  months,  or  as  long  as  they 
should  think  necessary."*  Synods  of  that  period 
said  "to  one,  Go,"  and  he  went;  but  in  this  case 
the  dangers  of  the  times  hindered  obedience. 

In  this  year  also  the  "Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  re- 
ported that  he  had  received  from  Great  Britain  a 
bill  for  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  generously 
given  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among 
the  Indians,  and  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the 
Synod."f  It  was  the  interest  of  this  sum  which 
the  Synod  annually  voted  for  the  support  of  Mr. 
Brainerd,  his  mission  and  school. 

*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  264. 
f  See  Records,  passim. 


292  LIFE    OF   JOHN  3R4JNERD. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MR.  BRAINERD  RESUMES  THE  MISSION — REMOVES  TO  BRUNSWICK — 
AGAIN  DISMISSED — RETURNS  TO  NEWARK — ACTION  OF  THE  SCOTCH 
SOCIETY — BROTHERTON. 

1756. 

A  LTHOUGrH  invited  to  Newark,  and  for  a  time 

having  charge  of  the  church,  Mr.  Brainerd 

was  still  longing  for  his  Indian  field.     He  says: — 

I  moved  with  my  family  to  Newark,  and  continued 
there  till  June,  1756,  when  the  Correspondents,  thinking 
they  had  a  prospect  of  procuring  the  land  on  which  the 
Indians  are  now  settled,  requested  me  to  resume  the  mis- 
sion, with  which  I  complied ;  and,  giving  up  the  call  I 
had  to  settle  at  Newark,  moved  with  my  family  to  Bruns- 
wick, being  the  best  place  I  could  now  fix  to  accommo- 
date the  Indians  in  their  present  situation,  till  the  land 
for  their  settlement  could  be  procured.  In  this  situation 
I  continued  till  September,  1757,  when  the  Correspond- 
ents, being  disappointed,  and  seeing  no  way  to  procure 
the  land,  dismissed  me  a  second  time ;  and  the  congrega- 
tion at  Newark,  having  continued  all  this  time  unsettled, 
renewed  their  call  to  me  the  next  week,  which  I  soon 
after  accepted,  moved  again  with  my  family,  and  settled 
there.* 

The  manuscript  records  of  the  Society  in  Edin- 

*  J.  Brainerd's  letter,  Sprague's  Annals,  vol    '      p.  151. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  293 

Tburgh  give  the  best  solution  of  these  complicated 
and  conflicting  movements.  We  give  them  in  full, 
as  they  show  the  zeal  and  sacrifices  with  which 
good  men  in  Europe  and  America  labored  to  pro- 
tect and  help  the  poor  Indians. 

Extract  from  Minutes,  dated  Edinburgh,  id  °June,  1757. 

"The  Committee  reported  that  there  was  transmitted 
to  them  from  their  Correspondents  at  London  a  letter,  of 
the  3<Dth  December  last,  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burr,  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  Preses  to  the 
Society's  commissioners  there,  bearing  that  the  said  Cor- 
respondents have  again  taken  Mr.  Brainerd  into  the  So- 
ciety's service,  since  the  tenth  of  June  last ;  that  the  rea- 
sons of  his  demitting  his  charge  and  returning  to  it  again 
were  communicated  in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Lo- 
thian; that  the  Committee  have  agreed  to  the  employ- 
ing Mr.  Brainerd  with  his  former  salary,  and  have  at  the 
same  time  withdrawn  the  allowance  given  Mr.  Tennent 
for  visiting  the  congregation  in  Mr.  Brainerd's  charge 
during  the  time  that  he  was  out  of  the  Society's  service; 
that  the  letter  from  Mr.  Burr  to  the  Marquis  of  Lothian 
is  but  newly  come  to  the  Committee's  hands,  and,  as  it 
contains  a  proposal  of  meeting  the  Correspondents  at 
New  York  to  buy  a  tract  of  ground  for  the  Indians,  the 
Committee  transmitted  the  said  letter,  with  one  from 
Mr.  Brainerd  to  Mr.  Burr,  to  the  General  Meeting. 
The  General  Meeting,  having  heard  the  said  report, 
caused  the  aforesaid  letter  from  Mr.  Burr  to  the  Mar- 
quis of  Lothian  to  be  read,  dated  the  sixth  August  last, 
and  bearing  that  the  aforesaid  proposal  of  purchasing  land 
in  the  Indian  country,  where  a  mission  might  be  settled, 
being  become  impracticable  by  reason  of  the  present  war 


294  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

there,  the  Correspondents  have  lately  fixed  upon  a  tract  in 
the  Province  of  New  York,  ( ?)  very  commodious  for  the 
Indians,  where  they  will  be  free  from  danger,  and  where 
such  as  incline  to  hear  the  gospel  may  find  a  safe  retreat. 
That  the  Correspondents  have  agreed  to  purchase  that 
tract,  the  title  to  be  in  the  Society,  and  to  be  for  the  use 
of  the  Indians ;  that  this  land  will  cost  about  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  sterling,  whereof  the  Correspond- 
ents have  near  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  hand,  and 
know  not  where  to  get  the  rest,  only  they  are  in  hopes 
this  Society  will  do  something  towards  it,  as  it  will  be  a 
fast  and  growing  estate;  that  they  have  written  to  Mr. 
Whitefield  and  some  other  friends  in  London  to  attempt 
getting  something  contributed  towards  so  good  a  design ; 
and,  as  all  hopes  of  having  a  mission  among  the  Indians 
back  in  their  own  country  is  at  present  at  an  end,  the 
Correspondents  think  it  of  great  importance  that  this 
should  be  supported,  especially  as  there  seems  a  door 
open  for  carrying  it  on  to  better  purpose  than  ever. 

"Which  letter  being  read,  the  General  Meeting  caused 
to  be  read  the  letter  from  Mr.  Brainerd  to  Mr.  Burr,  dated 
the  3d  of  July  last,  giving  a  more  particular  account  of  the 
aforesaid  land,  of  which  he  had  taken  a  particular  view, 
and  finds  it  every  way  commodious;  that  it  contains  at 
least  three  thousand  acres;  that  the  soil  is  very  good, — 
near  one-half  of  it,  he  imagines,  would  bear  very  good 
wheat,  the  rest  rice  and  Indian  corn,  which  the  Indians 
are  very  fond  of;  that  it  is  well  watered  and  timbered, 
and  that  a  considerable  quantity  of  fine  meadow  might 
be  made  in  some  parts  of  it ;  that  there  is  a  fine  cedar 
swamp  in  it, — a  very  valuable  article,  by  which  the  In- 
dians will  often  help  themselves  to  a  little  ready  cash  in 
time  of  need ;  that  it  is  a  much  better  spot  than  ever  he 
expected  to  find  in  that  country,  and  that  nothing  could 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4INERD.  295 

have  a  better  effect  upon  the  Indians  than  the  purchase 
of  that  land  at  this  time  ;  for,  as  the  Cranberry  Indians 
have  lost  their  land,  and  cannot  go  to  Susquehanna  by 
reason  of  the  enemy,  they  will  take  it  as  a  particular 
favor,  and  serve  not  only  to  attach  them  to  our  interest 
in  a  political  sense,  but  give  them  a  good  opinion  of  our 
religion. 

"The  General  Meeting,  having  considered  the  sub- 
ject-matter of  the  above-recited  letters,  and  after  rea- 
soning thereon,  did  approve  of  the  design  of  purchasing 
the  aforesaid  tract  of  land  for  the  Indians;  and  finding 
the  aforesaid  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  is 
already  provided  by  the  Correspondents,  and  that  applica- 
tions are  making  at  London  for  contributions  for  making 
the  aforesaid  purchase,  do  remit  this  affair  to  their  Com- 
mittee, and  appoint  that  they  transmit  a  copy  of  the  said 
two  letters  to  the  Correspondents  at  London;  and  the 
Committee  are  authorized,  upon  getting  notice  of  what 
is  contributed  there,  to  apply  as  much  of  the  Society's 
funds  for  making  the  said  purchase  as  they  shall  think 
expedient." 

Extract  from  Minutes,  dated  Edinburgh,  ijth  November, 


"The  General  Meeting,  having  heard  the  said  report, 
and  having  caused  to  be  read  the  minutes  of  their  corre- 
spondents, with  the  letter  from  Mr.  Anderson,  both  above 
recited,  and  considering  that  at  the  last  meeting  they  had 
agreed  to  make  the  said  purchase,  do  now,  in  respect  of 
the  opinion  of  the  Correspondents  and  the  many  dona- 
tions received  from  London,  agree  to  lay  out  the  afore- 
said sum  of  three  hundred  pounds  sterling  for  completing 
the  said  purchase,  and  authorize  the  treasurer  to  pay  the 
same;  and  the  General  Meeting  remit  to  their  Com- 


296  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD. 

mittee  to  see  the  conveyances  to  the  aforesaid  lands  duly 
executed  in  the  Society's  name." 

The  place  Brainerd  selected  to  be  purchased  for 
his  Indians  is  said  in  the  Records  to  have  been  in 
New  York;  but  the  Scotch  Correspondents  erred 
in  their  geography.  The  description  answers  per- 
fectly to  the  tract  in  Burlington  county,  New  Jer- 
sey, afterwards  given  to  the  Indians  by  the  State. 
This  view  is  confirmed  by  a  letter  of  Rev.  William 
Tennent  to  Dr.  Wheelock,  in  1758.  Speaking  of 
the  land  donated  by  the  State,  he  says : — * 

"It  will  refresh  your  heart,  dear  sir,  to  know  that  our 
Province  has,  in  consideration  of  all  the  Indian  claims  to 
lands  in  this  part  of  it,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  contain- 
ing near  three  thousand  acres,  to  be  a  possession  for  them 
and  theirs  for  ever.  It  is  the  same  tract  that  our  dear 
brother  Brainerd  chose  for  them,  but  could  not  purchase 
it,  though  he  incessantly  labored  for  it.  It  is  now  made 
theirs  in  a  time  and  way  hardly  expected :  it  is  surely  the 
doings  of  our  Lord,  to  whom  be  all  the  glory." 

The  purchase  failed,  but  the  generosity  of  the 
projectors  is  remembered  before  God.  Mr.  Brain- 
erd, disappointed,  went  back  the  next  year  to 
Newark,  where,  it  seems,  he  was  gladly  received. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Indians  were  supplied 
once  a  week  by  Rev.  William  Tennent.  Though 
he  was  put  in  Mr.  Brainerd's  place,  there  seems  to 


*  Memoirs  of  Wheelock.     Newburyport,  1811,  p.  218. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  297 

have  been  no  shade  of  jealousy  between  them.  In 
the  quotation  above,  Mr.  Tennent  speaks  of  "dear 
brother  Brainerd." 

At  the  Synod  of  New  York,  this  year,  Mr.  Brain- 
erd was  an  influential  and  active  member.  He 
was  put  on  the  Committee  of  Overtures,*  was  ap- 
pointed to  receive  the  collections  for  the  college, 
and  placed  on  the  Board  to  examine  candidates 
for  the  charity  fund  of  the  college.  The  interest 
on  the  charity  fund  for  Indian  missionaries  was 
voted  to  assist  him  in  laboring  for  the  Indians. 
They  also  ordered  him  with  others  to  spend  "four 
months  in  supplying  vacancies  in  the  South  be- 
fore winter,  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina."  If 
he  had  received  any  chill  from  the  action  of  the 
Correspondents,  this  kindness  of  his  Synod  was 
adapted  to  reassure  and  comfort  him.  As  the  first 
paid  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  which,  we  believe,  was  the  first 
ecclesiastical  body  in  the  land  organically  to  en- 
gage in  missions,  Brainerd  was  always  true  to  his 
church ;  and  to  the  last  his  Presbyterian  brethren 
were  true  to  him. 

*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  270. 


26 


298  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 


P 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

HI8   MISSION   TO   STOCKBRIDGE — DEATH   OF   HIS   WIFE. 

1757. 

ROVIDENTIALLY,  we  have  one  of  his  let- 
ters,   indicating    the    temper   with  which   he 
bore  the  trials  of  the  times : — 

NEWARK,  December  17,  1757. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  had  a  letter  for  you,  written  at  Princeton,  to  go  with 
Sr.  Barnum  ;  but  he  went  off  unbeknown  to  me,  and  left 
it.  And  I  have  time  at  present  to  write  but  a  few  words, 
being  in  an  hour  or  two  to  set  out  on  a  journey  to  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  to  meet  a  council  of  ministers  in  behalf 
of  the  college. 

You  have  doubtless  heard  the  choice  the  trustees  have 
made  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edwards  to  succeed  our  late  ex- 
cellent President  Burr,  whose  death  occurred  just  a  week 
after  the  most  affecting  breach  upon  my  family,  by  which 
was  removed  the  dearest  of  my  earthly  enjoyments.  This 
sorrow  you  have  heard  long  before,  and,  I  doubt  not, 
sincerely  mourned  with  me.  Let  me,  dear  sir,  have  your 
prayers  for  me  and  my  dear  little  offspring,  who  have  lost 
a  most  valuable  friend. 

We  have  likewise  to  mourn  the  loss  of  our  dear  wres- 
tling Jacob, — I  mean  that  man  of  God,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Davenport.  Oh,  we  exceedingly  want  such  gap-men ! 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD.  299 

Little  Jacob  *  was  not  fit  to  enter  college ;  but  the 
commissioners,  however,  took  him  under  their  pay,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  from  the  last  Wednesday  in  Sep- 
tember, I757>  you  may  draw  upon  the  commissioners 
for  the  year's  expenses,  and  it  will  be  paid  to  Mr.  Pom- 
roy's  son  at  college.  You  may  draw  upon  Mr.  William 
Tennent,  who  at  present  has  the  care  of  the  Indians. 
The  affair  has  appeared  so  discouraging,  and  our  late 
attempts  proved  so  unsuccessful,  together  with  the  loss 
of  about  twenty  of  our  men  who  enlisted  in  the  Provin- 
cial Army  and  were  lost  at  Fort  William  Henry,  that 
the  commissioners  thought  fit  to  dismiss  me  again  last 
commencement,  though,  if  I  could  have  answered  the 
end  of  a  missionary,  I  should  have  chosen  to  be  con- 
tinued before  taking  the  charge  of  any  congregation  in 
America. 

I  can  send  you  another  pretty  Indian  boy  in  the  spring, 
if  we  live,  and  I  doubt  not  but  two.  Please  to  let  me 
know  your  mind. 

And  now  I  can  only  ask  your  excuse  for  this  incorrect 
thing.  The  reason  of  my  writing  now  is,  because  I  have 
a  direct  opportunity  to  New  Haven.  I  got  home  from 
Princeton  last  night  about  nine  o'clock. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock.    Love  to  Sr.  Bar- 
num,  your  family,  to  the  little  Indian  boys,  etc. 
In  the  greatest  haste, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — My  duty  to  Mr.  Pomroy :   his  son  was  well  yes- 

*  He  means  Jacob  Woolley,  whom  Dr.  Wheelock  had  sent  to  enter 
Princeton  College.  He  failed  to  develop  a  good  character,  and  was 
no  honor  to  his  instructors 


300  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

terday,  and  all  the  scholars.      Things  go  on  bravely ;  the 
Indian  boys  are  well. 

The  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCJC. 

From  this  letter  we  see  what  sorrows  he  had  to 
meet,  and  how  bravely  he  bore  himself.  The 
loved  and  cherished  wife  of  his  youth  and  mother 
of  his  three  little  children  died  September  17th 
of  this  year.  In  another  letter,  alluding  to  this 
event,  he  says : — 

"  My  dear  wife,  after  a  long  and  painful  sickness,  de- 
parted the  i  jth  of  September,  1757, — the  greatest  loss  I 
ever  sustained,  the  most  sorrowful  day  I  ever  saw.  May 
God  sanctify  it  to  us  in  spiritual  and  divine  blessings ! 
Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return.  Having  a 
desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better, 
she  has  exchanged  a  vale  of  tears  for  a  crown  of  glory. 
Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord ;  they  rest  from 
their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them."* 

The  Correspondents  had  made  her  ill  health  a 
reason  for  detaining  him  from  the  Onohquanga 
mission.  Did  they  fear  that  a  husband's  sym- 
pathy with  an  afflicted  wife  absorbed  too  much 
of  his  attention?  or  did  they  sympathize  with 
her  in  her  affliction,  and  feel  unwilling  to  hazard 
her  life  in  the  wilderness?  We  know  not.  As 
there  is  no  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  infer  that 
this  afflicted  wife  was  herself  willing  to  endure  the 

*  Brainerd  Genealogy,  p.  286. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  301 

perils  of  any  enterprise.  She  was  an  element  of 
strength,  not  weakness,  to  her  husband,  and,  with 
all  his  zeal  for  missionary  labor,  he  speaks  of  her 
death  as  the  "greatest  loss"  of  his  life.  He  has 
not  told  where  she  died  (probably  at  Newark), 
and  we  have  not  been  able  to  find  her  grave. 
The  Saviour  knows  where  the  ashes  of  this  true 
woman  repose,  who,  to  solace  a  servant  of  Christ, 
exiled  herself  from  civilization  and  refinement  to 
elevate  and  save  degraded  savages.* 

Brainerd's  mission  to  Stockbridge  was  a  respon- 
sible one.  He  and  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  of  New- 
ark Mountains,  had  been  appointed  agents  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  to  tender  the  appointment 
of  President  to  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  se- 
cure his  acceptance  and  the  consent  of  his  breth- 
ren to  his  removal.  The  mission,  as  all  know, 
was  completely  successful ;  and  Mr.  Brainerd  must 
have  rejoiced  in  having  so  earnest  and  affectionate 
a  friend  of  his  brother  and  himself  in  such  a  posi- 
tion, and  so  near  at  hand.  But  here  again  he  was 
doomed  to  sorrow.  Edwards  came,  was  installed, 
presided  a  few  weeks,  and  died  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1758.  The  successive  deaths  of  Presidents  Burr 


*  We  asked  S.  H.  Congar,  Esq.,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  for  information 
as  to  her  grave.  In  response,  under  date  of  June  10, 1861,  he  says: — 

"Were  it  in  my  power,  I  would  cheerfully  answer  your  queries.  We  would  look  for  her 
grave  adjacent  to  those  of  her  children.  I  have  never  seen  nor  heard  of  a  monument  of 
any  kind  bearing  her  name.  In  1844,  the  inscriptions  in  our  old  cemetery  were  copied, 
but  many  stones  had  then  been  broken,  destroyed,  or  removed.  Mrs.  Rrainerd  was  doubt- 
less buried,  with  her  children,  near  the  family  graves  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McWhortcr.  Her 
gravestone  has  perished  by  neglect." 

26* 


302  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  Edwards  with  Mrs.  Burr  and  Edwards,  all  in 
about  one  year,  took  from  Brainerd  his  most  che- 
rished friends  at  a  period  of  his  own  deep  affliction. 
No  wonder  he  reeled  under  it. 

His  mission  to  Stockbridge  had  one  result  he 
little  anticipated. 

"The  council  of 'ministers  in  Stockbridge,  at  the  re- 
quest both  of  the  English  and  Indian  congregations  at 
Stockbridge,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Commissioners  in 
Boston,  requesting  that  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd  might  be 
appointed  Mr.  Edwards'  successor ;  the  Housatonnucks 
offering  land  for  a  settlement  to  the  Indian  congregation 
at  Cranberry,  New  Jersey,  if  they  would  remove  to  Stock- 
bridge  ;  and  another  letter  to  the  trustees  of  the  college 
requesting  that  they  use  their  collective  and  individual 
influence  to  procure  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Brainerd 
and  his  removal  to  Stockbridge."* 

To  be  invited  by  the  council  of  ministers  and 
the  people  to  succeed  Jonathan  Edwards  in  the 
pulpit  was  a  compliment  sufficient  to  please  any 
ordinary  man ;  but  we  do  not  find  that  Mr.  Brain- 
erd makes  any  allusion  to  it  in  his  letters.  It 
shows  what  he  was  at  that  period,  what  impres- 
sion he  made  at  Stockbridge,  and  how  sternly, 
like  his  brother  David,  he  subordinated  himself  to 
duty.  He  came  to  New  Jersey,  to  his  Indians 
and  his  work,  and  remained  in  it  in  relative  shade 
and  dependence :  his  life  going  out  in  obscurity  in 

*  Edwards'  Life,  pp.  576,  577. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  303 

the  Jersey  Pines,  like  the  Niger  dried  up  by  the 
sands  of  Africa. 

In  the  Synod  of  New  York,  which  met  at  Maid- 
enhead (now  Lawrence ville,  N.  J.)  this  year,  the 
vote  of  the  interest  on  the  Indian  fund  to  Mr. 
Brainerd  is  with  a  proviso:  "in  case  the  Corre- 
spondents shall  continue  him  in  the  mission."* 
We  confess  to  some  embarrassment  in  ascertain- 
ing precisely  what  was  his  exact  position.  It 
seems,  from  all  we  can  glean,  to  have  been  this: 
he  was  dismissed  from  his  mission,  and  went  to 
Newark.  The  prospect  of  purchasing  land  for  the 
Indians  induced  the  Society  to  reappoint  him,  and 
him  to  accept,  and  so  he  removed  to  Brunswick. 
The  scheme  failed:  he  is  now  again  at  Newark, 
delaying  to  be  installed,  and  ready  to  go  to  his  In- 
dians if  the  way  opens.  The  Synod  provides  for 
this  contingency. 

He  speaks  of  having  been  a  chaplain  in  the 
army  once,  before  his  campaign  in  Canada  in 
1759.  This  must  have  occurred,  we  think,  about 
1756,  at  the  time  Mr.  Beatty  went  as  chaplain  of 
Colonel  Benjamin  Franklin's  regiment  to  protect 
the  Moravian  settlements  of  Pennsylvania.  After 
one  hundred  years,  it  is  not  easy  to  make  a  bio- 
graphy strictly  consecutive:  it  is  enough  to  ap- 
proximate truth. 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  278. 


304  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


REUNION  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  SIDE  PRESBYTERIANS  —  MR.  BRAINERD's 
DOMESTIC  SORROWS  —  THE  GRAVES  OF  HIS  WIFE  AND  HIS  TWO 
CHILDREN  —  HIS  REMOVAL  TO  BROTHERTON. 

1758. 

rilHIS  year,  among  Presbyterians,  was  made  me- 
morable by  the  happy  reunion  of  the  Old  and 


Side  Presbyterians,  as  represented  by  the 
Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  After  a 
long  storm  of  controversy  and  recrimination  pre- 
cedent, and  a  sulky  separation  for  seventeen  years, 
they  found  that  they  had  not  fully  understood  all 
truth  nor  each  other;  that  each  side  had  some 
truth  and  some  error,  and  had  both  excellencies 
and  defects;  that  the  evils  of  separation  and  con- 
flict were  more  pernicious  than  the  errors  of  either 
party  :  so,  when  the  old  men  had  become  softened 
by  time,  amended  by  reflection,  or  passed  to  heaven, 
there  were  none  to  rebuke  a  younger  generation 
who  crept  up  and  shook  hands  over  the  wall  which 
had  separated  their  fathers.  A  century  later,  "this 
history  is  likely  to  repeat  itself." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  united  Synods  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  at  this  time,  Mr.  Brainerd 
is  marked  as  absent,  which  no  doubt  he  regretted, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  305 

for  it  must  have  been  "good  to  be  there."  During 
the  year  Mr.  Brainerd  seeins  to  have  quietly  pro- 
secuted his  labors  in  Newark ;  but  he  did  this  under 
the  pressure  of  most  overwhelming  afflictions.  The 
following  letter,  although  bearing  a  later  date,  re- 
fers to  these  trials  of  1758: — 


NEWARK,  March  20,  1759. 

DR.  WHEELOCK: — 

REV'D  AND  VERY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  was  at  New  Haven 
last  fall,  with  a  design  to  have  gone  farther  eastward ; 
but,  as  I  was  then  riding  for  my  health,  my  design  was 
prevented  by  that  turn  of  extreme  cold  we  had  the  be- 
ginning of  November,  otherwise  I  might  perhaps  have 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  your  own  house.  How 
often,  and  how  many  ways,  are  our  expectations  dashed 
and  disappointed !  Of  late,  I  had  very  great  and  sorrow- 
ful experience  of  this.  Death  has  made  the  world  to  me, 
what  it  really  is  in  itself  and  ever  was,  an  empty  nothing. 
The  loss  of  two  dear  lovely  babes  in  less  than  a  year 
after  the  death  of  their  amiable,  virtuous  mother,  the 
desire  of  my  eyes,*  has  brought  me  very  low  indeed; 

*  Since  our  first  allusion  to  the  wife  of  Mr.  Brainerd,  we  have  re- 
ceived from  the  Rev.  E.  L.  Cleaveland,  D.D.,  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
an  extract  from  a  paper  prepared  by  him  for  the  Historical  Society, 
giving  some  account  of  his  church-lot.  Incidentally  he  gives  the 
following  focts  respecting  the  Lyon  family,  into  which  the  Rev.  John 
Brainerd  married.  Though  out  of  place,  we  insert  the  extract  here : — 

"  After  the  death  of  Matthew  Gilbert,  son  of  the  governor,  the  north  side  of  his  old 
homestead  was  sold  by  his  widow  and  children  to  William  Lyon.  This  was  the  first  Wil- 
liam Lyon,  who  came  to  New  Haven.  His  wife  was  Experience  Hayward,  or  Howard. 
They  had  two  children,  William  and  Experience.  This  second  William  Lyon  was  father 
of  Colonel  William  Lyon,  the  well-known  President  of  New  Haven  Bank. 

"  William  Lyon,  the  purchaser  of  the  Gilbert  place,  died  before  the  year  174}.  HJJ 
purchase  must  have  been  as  early  as  1755.  His  house  stood  near  the  site  of  Mr.  Henry  O. 
Hotchkiss'  house. 


306  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

and  I  am  ready  to  say  with  the  Psalmist :  Unless  the  Lord 
bad  been  my  helper,  I  had  even  perished  in  my  afflictions ;  but 
having  obtained  help  from  him,  I  yet  live.  I  long  to  see 
you  very  much ;  but  whether  I  shall  ever  have  an  oppor- 
tunity in  this  world,  God  only  knows.  I  have  some 
thoughts  of  going  into  the  army  again,  but  am  at  a  great 
loss  what  is  my  duty,  mostly  on  account  of  my  present 
very  low  state  of  health.  I  hope  duty  will  be  made  plain 
to  me  one  way  or  another;  I  think  I  desire  to  be  abso- 
lutely at  the  disposal  of  Heaven. 

I  wonder  who  goes  [to  the  army  as  chaplain]  this  year 
in  Connecticut  ?  whether  dear,  good  Mr.  Pomroy  goes 
again?  I  have  heard  nothing. 

Our  Assembly  [New  Jersey]  have  bought  that  land 
for  the  Indians,  which  I  attempted  in  vain  to  purchase, 
and  Governor  Bernard  appears  very  forward  to  promote 
the  mission.  'Tis  not  altogether  improbable  I  shall  en- 
gage in  it  again,  if  I  live. 

'Twas  the  desire  of  the  Correspondents  at  a  meeting 
last  fall,  if  I  remember,  that  Jacob  should  be  sent  down 
about  this  middle  of  April  with  an  account  in  regard  to 
what  we  did  for  Mr.  Pomroy's  son,  and  what  you  have 
done  for  him.  I  hope  your  school  flourishes.  May  the 
time  be  hastened  when  God  will  send  the  gospel  among 
the  poor  Indians  and  other  benighted  heathen. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock;    and  when  you 


"After  the  death  of  William  Lyon,  in  1743,  his  widow  and  children  remained  in  the 
house  on  Church  street. 

"  In  1749,  they  sold  it  to  their  aunt,  Silence  Hayward,  but  probably  continued  to  live 
there.  In  1751,  Silence  Hayward  sold  the  north  part  of  the  lot,  extending  to  Court  Street, 
to  Yale  Bishop,  the  husband  of  Sybil  Gilbert.  In  1754,  she  sold  the  south  half  to  Mr. 
John  Brainerd,  of  Perth  Amboy ;  and  in  I7J8,  John  Brainerd,  then  of  Newark,  sold  his 
lot  to  Timothy  Ailing. 

"John  Brainerd's  interest  in  this  lot  was  natural  and  legitimate.  In  1752  he  had  mar- 
ried Experience,  daughter  of  William  and  Experience  Lyon  ;  and  he  was  therefore  buying 
back  his  wife's  former  ownership  in  the  estate." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  307 

see  Mr.  Pomroy  and  Mrs.  Pomroy,  please  to  salute  them 
in  the  most  affectionate  manner  for  me :  and  please,  sir, 
likewise  to  give  love  to  the  little  boys  and  others  of  your 
school. 

?Tis  a  very  great  favor  that  the  British  and  Prussian 
arms  are  still  so  much  smiled  upon.  The  taking  of 
Guadaloupe  is  no  inconsiderable  thing. 

Colonel  Schuyler  goes  this  year  at  the  head  of  our 
forces.  God  send  them  all  prosperity,  and  make  us  a 
thankful,  fruitful  people.  I  hope,  among  many  others, 
you  do  not  wholly  forget  to  pray  for, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 
Your  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

The  tombstones  of  the  little  ones  mentioned  in 
the  above  letter  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  grave- 
yard of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newark. 
Rev.  Dr.  Stearns,  in  his  history  of  that  church, 
gives  the  inscriptions  on  these  stones  as  appended 
in  the  note  below.* 

While  personal  sorrows  were  pressing  heavily 
upon  Mr.  Brainerd,  the  hopes  of  his  Indian  mis- 
sion were  reviving.  The  Legislature  of  New  Jer- 
sey, alarmed  by  the  hostile  spirit  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  Pennsylvania,  who  had  carried  bloodshed 

*  "  Miss  Sophia  Brainerd,  elder  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Brain- 
erd, died  Sept.  5,  1758,  in  the  6th  year  of  her  age. 

"David  Brainerd,  only  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  died  Sept. 
14,  1758,  in  the  2d  year  of  his  age. 

Sweet  babe,  so  late  received  thy  breath, 
And  now  commanded  unto  death  ; 
Thy  warfare  ended  ere  begun, 
Triumphant  victory  is  won." 


3o8  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

along  the  borders,  and  apprehensive  lest  the  New 
Jersey  Indians,  smarting  under  a  sense  of  their 
wrongs,  might  join  their  brethren  in  the  West 
and  become  dangerous,  had  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  justice. 

"The  first  outbreak  occurred  in  1755,  but,  so  soon  as 
a  hostile  feeling  became  apparent,  the  Legislature  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  examine  into  the  causes  of  dis- 
satisfaction. A  convention  was  held  at  Crosswicks  for 
the  purpose  in  January,  1756,  and  in  March,  1757,  a  bill 
was  passed,  calculated  to  remove  the  difficulties  which 
had  grown  out  of  impositions  upon  the  Indians  when  in- 
toxicated, the  destruction  of  deer  by  traps,  and  the  occu- 
pation of  lands  by  the  whites  which  they  had  not  sold.* 
During  this  year,  however,  and  the  first  part  of  1758, 
the  western  borders  of  the  province  were  in  much  alarm 
from  the  hostile  feeling  prevalent  among  the  Minisink 
and  neighboring  tribes, — from  May,  1757,  to  June,  1758, 
twenty-seven  murders  having  been  committed  by  them 
on  the  West-Jersey  side  of  the  Delaware.  A  constant 
guard  was  kept  under  arms  to  protect  the  inhabitants; 
but  it  was  not  always  able  to  check  the  predatory  excur- 
sions of  the  savages. 

"In  June,  1758,  Governor  Bernard,  of  New  Jersey, 
consulted  General  Forbes  and  Governor  Denny,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  to  the  measures  best  calculated  to  put  a  stop 
to  this  unpleasant  warfare,  and,  through  Teedyescung, 
king  of  the  Delawares,  he  obtained  a  conference  with 
the  Minisink  and  Pompon  Indians, — protection  being  as- 
sured them.f 

*  Neville's  Laws,  vol.  ii.  p.  125. 
t  Smith's  New  Jersey,  pp.  447,  448. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  309 

"  The  conference  took  place  at  Burlington,  August  7, 
1758.  On  the  part  of  the  province  there  were  present 
the  Governor,  three  Commissioners  of  Indian  Affairs  of 
the  House  of  Assembly,  and  six  Members  of  the  Coun- 
cil. Two  Minisink  or  Munsey  Indians,  one  Cayugan, 
one  Delaware,  messenger  from  the  Mingoians,  and  one 
Delaware  who  came  with  the  Minisinks,  were  the  dele- 
gates from  the  natives.  The  conference  opened  with  a 
speech  from  the  Governor.  He  sat,  holding  four  strings 
of  wampum,  and  thus  addressed  them:  'Brethren,  as 
you  are  come  from  a  long  journey,  through  a  wood  full 
of  briers,  with  this  string  I  anoint  your  feet,  and  take 
away  their  soreness ;  with  this  string  I  wipe  the  sweat 
from  your  bodies ;  with  this  string  I  cleanse  your  eyes, 
ears,  and  mouth,  that  you  may  see,  hear,  and  speak 
clearly ;  and  I  particularly  anoint  your  throat,  that  every 
word  you  say  may  have  a  free  passage  from  the  heart. 
And  with  this  string  I  bid  you  heartily  welcome.'  The 
four  strings  were  then  delivered  to  them.  The  result  of 
the  conference  was,  that  a  time  was  fixed  for  holding 
another  at  Easton,  at  the  request  of  the  Indians :  that 
being,  as  they  termed  it,  the  place  of  the  Old  Council 
fire."* 

"The  Act  passed  in  1757  appropriated  £1600  for  the 
purchase  of  Indian  claims;  but,  as  the  Indians  living 
south  of  the  Raritan  preferred  receiving  their  proportion 
in  land  specially  allotted  for  their  occupancy,  three  thou- 
sand and  forty-four  acres  in  the  township  of  Evesham, 
Burlington  county,  were  purchased  for  them.  A  house 
of  worship  and  several  dwellings  were  subsequently 
erected,  forming  the  town  of  Brotherton ;  and,  as  the 
selling  and  leasing  of  any  portion  of  the  tract  was  pro- 


*  Historical  Collections  of  New  Jersey,  p.  61. 
27 


310  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

hibited,  as  was  also  the  settlement  upon  it  of  any  per- 
sons other  than  Indians,  the  greatest  harmony  appeared 
to  have  prevailed  between  its  inhabitants  and  their  white 
neighbors."* 

This  treaty  secured  the  land  for  which  Brainerd 
and  the  Scotch  Society  had  negotiated.  As  the 
town  of  Christian  Indians  was  called  Bethel,  this 
new  town  was  named  Brotherton ;  long  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  from  which  he  dates 
many  of  his  letters. 

The  tract,  as  it  appeared  in  a  state  of  nature 
one  hundred  years  ago,  has  been  pretty  accurately 
described  by  Mr.  Brainerd  in  his  Edinburgh  corre- 
spondence. It  comprehended  three  thousand  acres 
lying  in  the  east  part  of  Burlington  county,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Burlington,  fifteen  from  Mount 
Holly,  and  twenty  from  the  sea  at  Tuckerton.  Led 
by  our  friend  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Mount  Holly, 
we  have  visited  the  spot  and  studied  its  surround- 
ings, but  reserve  the  description  for  another  part 
of  this  book.  The  securing  of  this  land  for  the  In- 
dians turned  at  once  the  eyes  of  the  Government 
of  New  Jersey,  of  the  Synod  of  his  Church,  and 
of  the  missionary  Correspondents  upon  Mr.  Brain- 
erd, as  most  likely  "to  care  for  the  estate  of  the 
poor  Indians;"  and  they  all  set  to  work  to  draw 
him  from  Newark,  which,  with  his  martyr- spirit, 
was  not  difficult. 

*  Allinson's  Laws,  p.  221. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  311 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MR.  BRAINERD   A   CHAPLAIN   IN   THE   AEMY. 

1759. 

French  War  was  now  raging  along  our 
whole    northern    frontier.     As    the    flag    of 

o 

France  bore  Romanism  with  it,  and  as  the  French 
armies  were  accompanied  by  yelling  and  scalping 
Indians,  the  Protestant  as  well  as  martial  spirit 
was  stirred  by  the  war,  and  ministers  and  people 
gave  their  prayers  and  persons  to  the  work  of 
beating  back  the  invaders  and  carrying  the  war 
into  Canada.  As  with  us  in  our  present  struggle 
with  traitors  and  treason,  all  the  loyal  clergymen 
of  the  land  (and  all  Presbyterian  clergymen  in 
that  day  were  loyal)  stood  ready  to  make  any 
sacrifice  for  their  country.  Their  sermons  and 
prayers,  as  in  the  case  of  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  and 
others,  breathed  a  warm  and  unequivocal  Chris- 
tian patriotism.  So  it  ought  always  to  be  in  our 
country's  perils.  John  Brainerd  would  have  been 
false  to  the  instincts  of  his  family  and  the  noble- 
ness of  his  heart  had  he  failed  to  share  in  the  re- 
sponsibilities and  spirit  of  the  times.  We  might 
suppose  that,  with  his  church  in  Newark,  his 
Southern  tours,  his  Indian  missionary  interests, 


312  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

his  college  burdens  and  responsibilities,  he  had  suf- 
ficient to  keep  him  at  home;  but  no;  we  find  him, 
in  the  middle  of  this  year,  four  hundred  miles  north 
of  New  Jersey,  on  the  borders  of  Canada. 

CROWN   POINT,  August  9,  1759. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  letter  from  you  to  dear 
Mr.  Pomroy,  of  a  much  later  date  than  any  thing  I  had 
heard  from  you  before.  I  always  rejoice  to  hear  of  your 
welfare,  and  desire  to  sympathize  with  you  under  any 
afflicting  dispensation.  Your  son,  I  observe  by  your  let- 
ter, is  in  a  low,  fading  state :  may  the  Lord  prepare  both 
him  and  you  for  his  good  will  and  pleasure. 

It  has  pleased  a  sovereign  God  to  bereave  me  of  all 
but  one  dear  little  babe:  I  know  he  is  just  and  righteous 
in  giving  me  a  bitter  cup  to  drink,  for  I  am  worthy.  But 
to  lose  such  dear  friends,  such  tender  parts  of  ourselves, 
as  wife  and  children,  is  hard  to  flesh  and  blood !  The 
world  can  never  be  to  me  what  it  has  been ;  and  doubt- 
less 'tis  best  it  should  not. 

After  considerable  hesitation,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
come  into  the  army  again,  But,  alas !  dear  sir,  I  feel  as 
if  I  did  but  little  good.  Profanity  and  wickedness  greatly 
prevail,  and  at  times  my  heart  almost  sinks  within  me; 
but  I  try  after  my  poor  manner  to  make  a  stand  for 
God,  and  I  desire  to  be  very  thankful.  I  never  had  so 
much  courage  in  general  as  this  year.  Oh,  what  a  mercy 
of  mercies  it  is  to  have  a  face  to  speak  for  God !  Good 
Mr.  Pomroy  is  at  present  my  near  neighbor,  and  often 
strengthens  my  heart. 

God  has  done  wonderful  things  for  us !  'Tis  his  own 
right  hand  and  his  holy  arm  that  has  gotten  the  victory! 
'Tis  pity,  O  'tis  infinite  pity,  that  he  should  be  the  more 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  313 

dishonored,  his  sacred,  adorable  name  the  more  pro- 
faned, and  his  most,  holy,  excellent,  equitable  laws  the 
more  trampled  upon  on  that  account !  Oh,  my  dear  sir, 
there  is  a  dreadful  day  a-coming  for  the  wicked!  But 
what  our  eyes  have  seen  and  your  ears  have  heard  from 
these  parts  are,  I  trust,  but  the  beginning  of  the  dawn 
of  a  glorious  day  to  the  Church  of  God. 

The  Lord's  stand  was  most  conspicuous,  and  very  re- 
markable, in  the  reduction  of  Niagara  as  well  as  these 
two  important  posts.  O  sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song, 
for  be  hath  done  marvellous  things! 

I  hope  your  school  will  be  established  upon  the  best 
foundation,  in  the  best  time,  and  in  the  best  way. 

I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  dear  Mr.  Buel's  affliction :  we 
know  how  to  sympathize  with  him.  May  his  great  loss 
be  made  up  in  spiritual  and  divine  blessings. 

Mr.  Beebe  was  very  poorly  when  we  left  Carillon  a 
few  days  ago.  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  that  he  was  so 
far  recovered  as  to  be  gone  homeward.  The  rest  of  our 
fraternity,  I  believe,  are  pretty  well.  The  provincial 
chaplains,  except  Mr.  Pomroy,  are  all  at  Carillon. 

My  best  regard  to  Mrs.  Wheelock,  love  to  your  chil- 
dren and  the  scholars,  and  cordial  salutations  to  all  friends. 
And  never  forget  to  pray  for, 

Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate  friend 
And  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — Mr.  Pomroy's  letter  in  answer  to  yours  gives 
you  the  substance  of  what  is  doing  here.  May  Heaven 
succeed  the  important  business  the  army  are  engaged  in. 
I  hear  Mr.  Beebe  is  better. 

RcvM  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 

27* 


3H  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Mr.  Brainerd's  account  of  the  wickedness  of  the 
army  and  of  his  times  may  lead  us  to  hope  that  a 
merciful  God  may  still  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with 
our  fathers,  in  spite  of  our  sins.  It  is  touching  to 
remember  that  the  Indians  of  Bethel,  the  converts 
of  David  Brainerd,  shared  in  the  patriotism  of 
their  pastor,  and  cheerfully  gave  up  their  lives  for 
their  country  and  its  safety. 

Mr.  Brainerd  says: — 

"The  Indians  have,  every  year  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  enlisted  into  the  king's  service  far  be- 
yond th^  proportion,  and  generally  more  or  less  every 
campaign  have  died  in  the  army."  * 

Brave  and  true  men,  fighting  for  a  government 
that  had  denied  them  a  place  where  to  "lay  their 
heads"  !  They  helped  "to  save  others,"  but  their 
own  national  existence  they  could  not  save.  Like 
our  own  colored  soldiers,  they  perilled  the  loss  of 
all  things,  with  but  a  dim  and  doubtful  vision  of 
any  benefit  to  themselves.  We  trust  God  remem- 
bered them.  Their  loss  must  have  been  severe  in 
a  community  of  less  than  two  hundred. 

The  united  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, in  their  minutes  of  this  year,  say : — 

"Mr.  Brainerd  applied  to  the  Synod  for  their  advice, 
whether  it  was  his  duty  to  leave  his  present  charge  at 
Newark  and  resume  his  mission  to  the  Indians. 

*  Letter  of  J.  Brainerd,  Sprague's  Annals,  pp.  151,  152. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  315 

"Arguments  on  both  sides  were  fully  heard. 

"Though  the  Synod  are  tenderly  affected  with  the 
case  of  Newark  congregation,  yet,  in  consideration  of 
the  great  importance  of  the  Indian  mission,  they  do 
unanimously  advise  Mr.  Brainerd  to  resume  it. 

"  The  Synod  do  farther  agree  to  give  him  the  interest 
of  the  Indian  fund  for  this  year,  in  order  to  his  more 
comfortable  subsistence."  * 

Under  the  same  date,  the  minutes  add: — 

"  Mr.  Brainerd  being  removed  from  Newark,  it  is  or- 
dered that  Messrs.  Woodruff,  Kettletas,  Darby,  and  Cum- 
mings  supply  there,  each  one  Sabbath." 

Mr.  Brainerd  had  not  yet  left  Newark  officially, 
but  was  absent  probably  in  the  army.  His  own 
account  of  matters  about  this  time  is  as  follows : — 

"In  this  settled  state,  in  Newark,  I  remained  but  a 
little  while;  for  in  March,  1759  (in  consequence  of  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians  and  this  land  purchased  and  se- 
cured to  them  by  the  government),  I  was  requested  by 
Mr.  Bernard,  the  then  governor  of  this  province,  and  the 
Society's  correspondents,  at  a  joint  meeting  at  Perth  Am- 
boy,  again  to  resume  the  mission.  I  took  their  proposals 
under  consideration,  and  in  the  May  following  laid  the 
matter  before  the  Synod  at  Philadelphia ;  and,  with  the 
unanimous  advice  of  that  venerable  body,  gave  up  my 
charge  at  Newark,  and  embarked  once  more  in  the  cause 
of  the  poor  Indians. 

"About  this  time  I  made  the  Indians  a  visit  at  their 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p  294. 


316  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

new  settlement,  and  procured  some  supplies  for  them  by 
order  of  the  Synod  during  my  absence  in  the  army ;  and, 
upon  my  return  the  November  following,  fixed  myself 
down  among  them,  where  I  have  steadily  resided  ever 
since." 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  him  to 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith,  of  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  wife 
of  the  Hon.  William  Smith,  and  previously  the  wife 
of  Colonel  Elisha  Williams,*  once  Rector  of  Yale 
College : — 

BROTHERTON  in  NEW  JERSEY,  August  24,  1761. 

MADAM: — 

According  to  my  promise,  I  here  send  an  account  of 
the  Indian  mission  in  this  province,  which  for  some  years 
has  been  the  object  of  my  care. 

In  1757  we  lost  near  twenty,  taken  captive  at  Fort 
William  Henry, f  and  but  three  or  four  have  ever  re- 
turned to  this  day;  so  that  our  number  is  greatly  re- 
duced. 


*  Colonel  Elisha  Williams  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1711 ; 
was  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  in  1726 ;  inau- 
gurated President  of  Yale  College, — resigned  from  ill  health,  1739; 
and  went  as  chaplain  in  the  expedition  against  Cape  Breton  in  1745. 
The  next  year  he  was  appointed"  colonel  of  a  regiment  in  the  pro- 
posed expedition  against  Canada.  Dr.  Doddridge,  who  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  him,  says:  "He  had  a  nobleness  of  soul  capable  of 
contriving  and  acting  the  greatest  things  without  seeming  to  be  con- 
scious of  his  having  done  them."  He  went  to  England,  where  he 
married  a  lady  of  superior  accomplishments,  the  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  of  Norwich :  to  her  the  above  letter  was  ad- 
dressed. He  died  July  24,  1765,  aged  sixty. — Allen's  Biographical 
Dictionary,  p.  862. 

f  Fort  William  Henry,  at  the  south  end  of  Lake  George,  Warren 
county  N.  Y.  Erected  in  1753  ;  captured  by  the  French  in  1756. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  317 

On  this  spot,  which  is  a  fine,  large  tract  of  land,  and 
very  commodiously  situated  for  their  settlement,  there 
are  something  upward  of  an  hundred,  old  and  young. 

About  twelve  miles  distant  there  is  a  small  settlement 
of  them,  perhaps  near  forty.  About  seventeen  miles 
farther  there  is  a  third,  containing  possibly  near  as  many 
more;  and  there  are  yet  some  few  scattering  ones  still 
about  Crossweeksung.  And  if  all  were  collected,  they 
might  possibly  make  two  hundred. 

I  spend  something  more  than  half  my  Sabbaths  here 
at  Brotherton;  the  rest  are  divided.  At  this  place  I 
have  but  few  white  people :  the  reason  is,  because  this 
is  near  central  between  Delaware  and  the  sea,  and  the 
English  settlements  are  chiefly  on  them.  The  other 
places  are  in  the  midst  of  the  inhabitants,  and,  whenever 
I  preach  there,  I  have  a  large  number  of  white  people 
that  meet  to  attend  divine  service.  But,  besides  these, 
I  have  preached  at  eight  different  places  on  Lord's  days, 
and  near  twenty  on  other  days  of  the  week,  and  never 
fail  of  a  considerable  congregation, — so  large  and  exten- 
sive is  this  vacancy. 

Two  large  counties,  and  a  considerable  part  of  two 
more,  almost  wholly  destitute  of  a  preached  gospel  (ex- 
cept what  the  Quakers  do  in  their  way),  and  many  of  the 
people  but  one  remove  from  a  state  of  heathenism. 

As  to  the  success  that  has  attended  my  labors,  I  can 
say  but  little :  it  is  a  time  wherein  the  influences  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  are  mournfully  withheld.  I  think,  how- 
ever, I  have  ground  to  hope  that  some  good  has  been 
done  among  both  Indians  and  white  people,  and  the 
prospects  of  further  usefulness  are  very  considerable  if 
proper  means  could  be  used.  But  such  is  the  state  of 
this  country,  there  is  such  a  mixture  of  Quakers  and 
other  denominations,  and  so  many  that  have  no  concern 

27* 


3i8  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

about  religion  in  any  shape,  that  very  little  can  at  present 
be  expected  towards  the  support  of  the  gospel.  On  my 
own  part,  I  have  never  thought  proper  to  take  one  single 
farthing  yet  in  all  my  excursions,  fearing  that  it  might 
prejudice  the  minds  of  some  and  so,  in  a  measure,  frus- 
trate the  design. 

At  this  place,  where  most  of  the  Indians  are  settled, 
we  greatly  want   a   school  for   the  children.     When  I 
built  the  meeting-house  last  year,  I  provided  some  mate- 
rials also  for  a  schoolhouse,  and  in  the  fall  addressed  the 
* 

legislature  of  this  province  for  some  assistance,  not  only 
for  the  support  of  a  school,  but  for  the  erecting  of  a 
small  grist-mill,  a  blacksmith's  shop,  and  a  small  trading 
store  to  furnish  the  Indians  with  necessaries  in  exchange 
for  their  produce,  and  so  prevent  their  running  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles  to  the  inhabitants  for  every  thing  they  want ; 
whereby  they  not  only  consume  much  time,  but  often 
fall  into  the  temptation  of  calling  at  dram-houses  (too 
frequent  in  the  country),  where  they  intoxicate  them- 
selves with  spirituous  liquors,  and  after  some  days,  per- 
haps, instead  of  hours,  return  home  wholly  unfit  for  any 
thing  relating  either  to  this  or  a  future  world. 

The  Governor,  the  Council,  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  and  several  of  the  other  members,  thought 
well  of  the  motion,  and  recommended  it ;  but  the  Quak- 
ers, and  others  in  that  interest,  made  opposition,  and, 
being  the  greater  part  of  the  house,  it  finally  went  against 
us.  If  the  same  could  be  done  some  other  way,  it  would 
be  the  best  step  towards  the  end  proposed,  and  be  the 
most  likely  to  invite  not  only  the  Indians  at  these  other 
small  settlements  above  mentioned,  but  those  also  who 
live  in  more  distant  parts  of  the  country. 

Thus  I  have  touched  upon  the  most  material  things 
relative  to  this  mission,  and,  I  fear,  tired  your  patience 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  3,9 

with  my  long  epistle.  And  now,  that  all  needed  provision 
may  be  made  for  the  promotion  and  perfecting  of  this 
good  work  among  the  Indians,  and  you,  among  others, 
be  made  an  happy  instrument  of  the  same ;  that  many 
faithful  laborers  may  be  thrust  forth,  and  all  vacant  parts 
of  the  harvest  be  supplied ;  that  this  wilderness  in  par- 
ticular may  be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field,  and  even  the 
whole  earth  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  is 
the  fervent  prayer  of, 

Madam,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — Since  my  settlement  here,  I  have  been  obliged 
to  advance  above  £200  for  the  building  of  the  meeting- 
house, for  some  necessary  repairs  of  ah  old  piece  of  an 
house  that  was  on  the  spot,  and  for  my  support  and  other 
necessary  expenses. 

This  letter  somewhat  anticipates  our  narrative ; 
alluding  to  his  labors  in  the  field  which  he  was 
just  entering  in  1759.  But,  as  it  includes  also 
facts  occurring  at  an  earlier  period,  it  is  relevant 
here. 


320  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ACTION   OF   SYNOD  —  WAS   HE   PA3TOE  AT   NEWARK?  —  HIS  LETTERS. 

1760. 


Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  this 
year  adopted  the  following  minute,  alike  con- 
siderate in  them  and  honorable  to  Mr.  Brainerd  :— 


"It  is  known  to  many  in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod 
that  some  ministers,  moved  with  an  holy  zeal  to  promote 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  among  the  Indian  tribes,  applied  to 
the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge, and  obtained  a  grant  of  a  certain  sum  of  money 
yearly  to  support  two  missionaries  to  promote  the  con- 
version of  the  savage  nations/  They  employed  Mr. 
David  Brainerd,  whose  praise  is  in  the  churches  of 
Christ,  and  whose  endeavors  were  blessed  with  success 
in  this  great  work  of  bringing  the  Indians  to  a  know- 
ledge of  Christ. 

"It  pleased  God  soon  to  remove  him  from  his  useful 
labor  on  earth  to  the  joys  of  his  heavenly  kingdom.  As 
the  name  of  Brainerd  was  dear  to  these  poor  tribes,  his 
brother  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  in  the  mission,  in 
which  station  he  continued  for  seven  or  eight  years  ; 
but,  as  the  prospect  of  a  troublesome  war  made  the 
mission  dangerous  and  disagreeable,  the  Commissioners, 
who  employed  him,  dismissed  him  from  his  care  of  the 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  321 

Indians,  and  he  was  employed  to  preach  the  gospel  at 
Newark. 

"At  an  Indian  treaty,  the  province  of  New  Jersey 
bought  all  the  small  tracts  of  land  that  the  Indians 
claimed  in  different  parts  of  the  government ;  and,  that 
they  might  still  encourage  the  native  inhabitants  to  re- 
side among  them  in  their  own  country,  they  bought  and 
bestowed  on  the  remnant  of  these  people  about  four 
thousand  acres  of  land,  which  they  gladly  accepted,  and, 
as  many  of  them  were  converted  to  Christianity,  they 
earnestly  requested  that  Mr.  Brainerd  might  be  granted 
to  them  again  as  a  gospel  minister. 

"The  annuity  which  the  Society  in  Scotland  had  al- 
lowed to  the  missionary  was  stopped  upon  Mr.  Brainerd's 
dismission,  though  there  was  and  is  hope  of  procuring  it 
again :  Mr.  Brainerd  was  requested  by  the  Governor  and 
Commissioners  of  Jersey  to  undertake  the  Indian  mis- 
sion. He  applied  to  the  Synod  for  advice ;  and,  though 
he  had  a  very  comfortable  settlement  at  Newark,  yet  the 
Synod,  through  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  among  these  poor  Indians,  advised  him  to  give 
up  these  temporal  advantages  and  settle  as  a  missionary 
among  those  poor  Indians,  with  which  advice  he  readily 
and  generously  complied.  But,  as  there  is  no  provision 
yet  made  to  support  him,  and  to  answer  many  and  vari- 
ous expenses  in  preaching  to  and  settling  schools  among 
those  people,  the  Synod  think  themselves  obliged  to  use 
all  lawful  endeavors  to  support  said  mission,  and  have 
now,  at  their  Synodical  meeting,  agreed  to  contribute 
themselves  and  to  make  application  to  the  congregations 
in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod  for  a  general  collection  to 
promote  this  pious  and  good  design ;  and  do  order  that  a 
collection  for  this  purpose  be  made  in  every  congregation 
under  the  carj  of  this  Synod,  and  the  respective  collec- 

28 


322  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

tions  be  sent  by  the  Moderators  of  the  Presbyteries  be- 
fore the  beginning  of  September  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Ser- 
geant, near  Princeton,  who  is  to  receive  it  and  pay  it  to 
the  Correspondents  of  the  Indian  mission,  to  be  by  them 
used  for  this  purpose. 

"Ordered,  that  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  taken  by  the 
Moderators  of  such  Presbyteries  as  are  present,  and  sent 
to  such  as  are  absent."* 

The  question  has  been  raised,  whether  Mr.  Brain- 
erd  was  in  fact  settled  as  a  pastor  in  Newark,  in- 
asmuch as  the  Rev.  Dr.  McWhorter  fails  to  mention 
him  in  his  "Century  Sermon."  The  Synod,  speak- 
ing deliberately  and  of  its  own  knowledge,  seems 
to  conclude  the  matter:  it  says  "he  was  comfort- 
ably settled  in  Newark."  Why  Dr.  McWhorter 
totally  ignored  his  pious  and  self-sacrificing  prede- 
cessor is  a  mystery  difficult  of  explanation  or  apo- 
logy. As  he  succeeded  Mr.  Brainerd,  there  may 
have  been  personal  relations  of  the  parties  to  ex- 
plain this  strange  omission. 

Probably  Mr.  Brainerd  was  never  installed  of- 
ficially ;  but  all  the  ecclesiastical  writers  recognize 
him  as  pastor  in  Newark,  and  he  claims  the  same 
for  himself.  He  says  he  had  "some  encourage- 
ment as  a  preacher  there;"  and,  though  his  name 
is  not  in  the  catalogue  of  its  ministers,  we  trust 
the  influence  of  his  teaching  and  prayers  had  a 
place  in  forming  the  character  of  a  congregation 
so  blessed  of  God  and  so  wide-spread  in  its  useful- 

*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  299,  300. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  323 

ness  to  the  Church  and  the  world  during  the  cen- 
tury gone  by. 

Let  us  now  hear  from  Mr.  Brainerd  at  his  new 
home  at  Brotherton : — 

BROTHER-TON,  NEW  JERSEY,  November  24,  1760. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  :  — 

Yours  to  Mr.  William  Tennent  by  Mr.  Whitaker  he 
received  at  the  Commencement,  and  immediately  deli- 
vered it  to  me.  I  thought  with  an  answer  to  have  sent 
two  little  Indian  girls  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  at 
Norwich ;  but  the  fever  and  ague  has  so  prevailed  among 
the  Indians,  and  continued  so  long,  it  is  now  become  too 
late  for  this  season :  I  hope  to  send  them  as  early  in  the 
spring  as  will  do.  Both  parents  and  children  are  pleased 
with  the  offer;  and  I  am  much  pleased  to  hear  that  your 
school  flourishes.  I  hope  God  will  make  it  a  distin- 
guished blessing. 

I  likewise  rejoice  to  hear  that  more  provision  is  made 
for  the  support  of  missionaries  to  the  Indians :  I  could  not 
tell  you  of  one  for  Onohquanga.  It  is  hoped  such  a  per- 
son may  present  after  a  while :  I  shall  make  all  the  in- 
quiry I  can. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock,  etc. ;  love  to  the 
little  boys. 

And  please  to  accept  the  most  respectful  and  affec- 
tionate salutations  from, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK  (LEBANON.) 

We  find  Mr.  Brainerd  the  next  month  still  seek- 
ing a  missionary  for  another  field. 


324  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR41NERD. 

NEW  HAVEN,  December  9,  1760. 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

After  I  wrote  the  inclosed,  I  set  out  on  a  journey  to 
the  northward,  not  without  some  hopes  of  reaching  as 
far  as  Lebanon ;  but  the  season  is  so  far  advanced,  and  I 
am  under  some  necessity  to  be  home  by  such  a  time, 
that  I  think  I  must  deny  myself  that  pleasure. 

I  waited  on  Mr.  President  Davis  in  my  way,  and  ad- 
vised with  him  about  a  young  gentleman  for  Onoh- 
quanga.  After  maturely  considering,  he  thought  of  one 
who  took  his  degree  at  Princeton  last  Commencement, 
Amos  Thompson  by  name.  With  him  we  conversed  on 
the  head,  who  told  us  "it  was  new  to  him;  but,  if  it 
should  appear  that  he  could  serve  his  generation  better 
in  that  capacity  than  any  other,  he  had  no  objections  to 
it."  The  president  thinks  him  well  qualified. 

Sir,  I  write  in  the  utmost  haste,  in  a  cold  morning, 
and  without  fire.  I  know  you  are  a  good  reader,  other- 
wise I  should  fear  this  would  not  answer  the  end ;  I 
likewise  know  you  are  kind  and  good,  and  therefore  need 
add  no  more  but  my  very  affectionate  regard  to  you  and 
Mrs.  Wheelock,  and  subscribe  myself, 
Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Rev'd  Dr.  WHEELOCK. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN   BRAINERD.  325 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  SYNOD  EARNEST  IN  ITS  CARE  OF  THE  MISSION — ACTION  OF  THE 
SCOTCH  SOCIETY — THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  NEW  JEESEY  NOT  FULFILL- 
ING ITS  PLEDGES. 

1761. 

fTlHE  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  still 
exhibited  a  care  for  their  missionary.     They 
say: — 

"The  Synod,  taking  this  matter  into  serious  consider- 
ation, judge  that,  though  the  mission  among  the  Oneida 
Indians  overtured  by  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance,  and  which  we  would  gladly  favor  were 
it  in  our  power,  yet,  inasmuch  as  after  all  the  inquiry  we 
can  make  no  person  can  be  found  to  undertake  said  mis- 
sion, nor  can  we  in  present  circumstances  raise  a  suffi- 
cient supply  for  its  support,  it  is  agreed  that  we  will,  to 
the  utmost  of  our  power,  support  Mr.  Brainerd ;  and  for 
this  purpose  agree  that  another  collection  shall  be  raised 
in  all  our  congregations, — one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
of  which  shall  be  allowed  to  Mr.  Brainerd  for  the  ensu- 
ing year;  and  that  those  who  have  not  yet  collected 
shall  be  included  in  this  order,  besides  their  fulfilling  the 
order  of  the  last  year's  Synod  on  this  subject."* 

This  language,  so  cordial  and  strong,  indicates 

*  Presbyterian  Record,  p.  311. 
28* 


326  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

their  missionary  zeal,  and  makes  us  proud  of  our 
venerable  Church.  The  minute  of  the  Scotch  So- 
ciety is  interesting: — 

Minute  dated  Edinburgh,  $th  March,  1761. 

"Upon  letters  from  America,  Mr.  Brainerd's  salary  is 
paid,  and  he  continued  as  formerly." 

Extract  from  Minutes  dated  Edinburgh,  \th  March,  1762. 

"The  Committee  reported  that  there  was  given  in  to 
them  a  letter  of  the  23d  September  last,  from  the  Rev'd 
Mr.  David  Bostwick,  President  of  the  Society's  Corre- 
spondents at  New  York,  in  answer  to  that  sent  them  by 
order  of  the  Committee  on  the  7th  of  March  last,  which 
letter  bears  that  the  Government  of  New  Jersey,  in  a 
contract  with  the  Indians,  on  condition  -of  their  quitting 
all  right  to  any  other  lands  in  the  province,  had  pur- 
chased for  them  and  settled  on  them  and  their  succes- 
sors, by  a  legislative  act,  that  whole  tract  of  land  which 
the  Correspondents  were  endeavoring  to  procure  for 
them ;  that  the  Correspondents  had  inadvertently,  with- 
out acquainting  the  Society,  assumed  the  following  gen- 
tlemen to  be  joint  with  them,  and  now  propose  the  So- 
ciety would  send  them  commissions  for  that  purpose, 
viz. :  the  Rev'd  Messieurs  Richard  Treat,  Timothy 
Johnes,  David  Bostwick,  Elihu  Spencer,  Caleb  Smith, 
John  Brainerd,  Abraham  Kettletas,  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel in  New  York  and  New  Jersey;  William  Livingston, 
Esq.,  attorney-at-law,  Messieurs  Peter  Vanbrugh  Liv- 
ingston and  David  Vanhorn,  merchants  in  New  York, 
the  Hon.  Samuel  Woodruff  and  William  Peartree  Smith, 
Esquires,  Messrs.  Robert  Cuming  and  Jonathan  Sergeant, 
of  New  York. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  327 

"The  Committee  agreed  to  transmit  to  the  General 
Meeting,  with  the  opinion  that  Commission  of  Corre- 
spondence be  given  to  the  gentlemen  above  proposed." 

Same  date  as  above. 

"The  General  Meeting  having  heard  the  said  report 
and  opinion  of  their  Committee,  and  the  foiesaid  letters 
being  now  read,  the  General  Meeting  agreed  that  letters 
of  commission  be  sent  to  the  gentlemen  above  pro- 
posed." 

The  names  in  the  above  designate  the  persons 
who  at  that  time  represented  the  Scotch  Society 
in  America. 

Mr.  Brainerd  speaks  gloomily  of  his  new  home 
and  his  prospects  at  Brotherton.  He  says : — 

"  I  had  repeated  promises  from  Governor  Bernard  of  a 
comfortable,  decent  house  for  the  place  of  my  residence, 
as  also  a  house  for  the  public  worship  of  God.  But  pro- 
mises were  all  I  could  get  towards  either;  and,  when  I 
came  to  think  of  moving  here,  was  obliged  to  sell  almost 
all  my  household  furniture,  because  I  had  no  place  to  put 
it  in.  And  the  loss  I  hereby  sustained,  together  with  the 
losses  and  expenses  in  my  several  removes,  was  about 
.£150  damage  to  my  estate,  besides  all  the  fatigue  and 
trouble  that  attended  the  same."* 

When  the  Governor  and  Council  of  New  Jersey 
induced  Mr.  Brainerd  to  make  his  home  in  the 
forests  and  among  the  swamps  of  Brotherton,  the 

*  J.  Brainerd's  letter,  Sprague's  Annals,  vol.  iii.  p.  152. 


328  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

least  they  could  do  properly  was  to  give  him  the 
means  of  carrying  out  the  very  object  of  his  resi- 
dence there.  It  seems  they  abandoned  him  to  his 
own  resources.  His  Scotch  salary  appears  to  have 
failed,  so  that  his  only  certain  dependence  was  on 
the  twenty  pounds  from  his  Synod.  He  certainly 
was  not 

"  Passing  rich  with  twenty  pounds  a  year," 

if  he  had  to  build  a  dwelling-house,  a  church,  a 
schoolhouse,  a  store,  and  a  mill  for  his  people. 
His  friends  in  the  Synod  and  elsewhere  stood  by 
him ;  and  all  these  buildings,  of  a  sort,  were  set  up. 
A  mill  on  the  old  site,  called  the  "Indian  mill," 
exists  to  this  day. 

We  have  hitherto  regarded  him  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Indians  only:  the  following  letter  to  Rev. 
Enoch  Green  shows  how  apostolically  he  carried 
the  gospel  to  the  destitute  whites.  He  is  directing 
a  Synodical  supply  on  his  field : — 

TRENTON,  June  ai,  1761. 
REV.   AND    DEAR    SlR : 

It  has  not  been  in  my  power,  by  any  means,  to  make 
a  visit  to  the  shore  since  the  session  of  the  Synod,  and 
consequently  could  not  make  appointments  for  you  ;  your 
plans  of  preaching,  however,  will  be  as  follows :  Tom's 
River,  the  most  northerly  place ;  then  southward,  Good- 
luck,  either  at  Thomas  Potter's  or  David  Woodmon- 
see's;  Barnegat,  at  Mr.  Rulon's;  Manuhocking,  at  Mr. 
Haywood's  or  Mr.  Randal's ;  Wading  River,  at  Charles 
Loveman's  or  John  Leak's ;  Great  Egg  Harbor,  at  Cap- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  329 

tain  Davis',  Wm.  Reed's,  Benjamin  Ingersoll's,  And'w 
Blackman's,  John  English's,  Philip  SchulPs,  George 
May's,  Elijah  Clark's ;  Cape  May,  either  at  Captain  Sill- 
will's  or  John  Golden's,  and  at  Tuckahoe  meeting-house ; 
and  any  other  places  you  may  think  proper  when  you 
come  on  the  spot  And  some  of  those  mentioned  pos- 
sibly you  may  not  think  best  to  preach  at :  that  will  be 
as  you  judge  best ;  but  these  are  the  houses  where  meet- 
ings are  generally  held. 

If  you  could  begin  with  Tom's  River,  and  be  there  a 
day  or  two  before  Sabbath  to  notify  the  people,  then  you 
might  make  the  rest  of  your  appointments  and  send  them 
seasonably  before  you.  The  proportion  will  be:  two 
Sabbaths  to  the  northward  of  Little  Egg  Harbor  River, 
three  in  Great  Egg  Harbor,  one  at  the  Cape  or  Tucka- 
hoe, and  as  many  weekly  lectures  at  all  as  you  can. 

Thus,  dear  sir,  in  a  minute  or  two,  as  I  pass  through 
town,  I  have  given  you  these  hints,  which  perhaps  may 
be  of  some  use  to  your  tour  on  the  shore ;  in  which  I 
hope  the  blessing  of  God  will  attend  your  labors,  and 
am,  with  all  respect, 

Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

J.  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — If  you  could  consult  with  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 
and  Mr.  McKnight,  who  will  succeed  you,  and  make 
their  appointments  for  them,  it  would  be  of  use.  I  hope 
you  will  be  kind  enough  to  call  and  see  me  on  your 
return. 

To  the  Rev.  ENOCH  GREEN.* 

*  Rev.  Enoch  Green  was  licensed,  in  1761,  by  the  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery,  in  company  with  Rev.  William  Tennent.  Ho  was  Mr. 
Brainerd's  predecessor  at  Deerfield,  N.  J.,  and  died  there  about  1776. 

28* 


330  LIFE    OF    JOHN  BR4INERD. 

We  have  seen  that  Mr.  Brain erd  had  sent  seve- 
ral Indian  boys  (John  Pumshire,  Jacob  Woolley, 
Hezekiah  Calvin,  Joseph  Woolley,  etc.),  at  Dr. 
Wheelock's  request,  to  be  educated  in  his  Indian 
school  in  Lebanon,  Conn.  Dr.  Wheelock  was  dis- 
posed to  try  the  same  experiment  with  little  In- 
dian girls.  Our  young  friends  will  have  great  in- 
terest in  the  following  letters  of  Mr.  Brainerd's, 
introducing  those  girls  to  their  new  home  at  Dr. 
Wheelock's : — 

NASSAU   HALL,  May  30,  1761. 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

Yours  of  the  i8th  instant  met  me  here  the  day  before 
yesterday ;  at  the  same  time  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Andrew  Oliver,  of  Boston. 

I  rejoice  that  your  school  is  so  prosperous:  I  shall 
always  esteem  it  a  favor  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  do 
any  thing  for  its  promotion.  I  communicated  your  letter 
to  Mr.  Wm.  Tennent ;  but  we  have  had  the  affairs  of 
college,  in  its  present  melancholy  circumstances,  under 
consideration,  and  are  hardly  in  a  capacity  to  think  ma- 
turely of  what  you  proposed  respecting  an  incorporation. 

I  hardly  know  what  you  mean  "  by  advising  you  with 
respect  to  taking  three  Indian  boys  at  the  expense  of  the  Com- 
missioners^ and  three  more  at  your  own  risk"  I  am  highly 
pleased  with  every  thing  of  that  kind ;  and  doubtless  it 
would  be  best  to  get  them  from  remote  tribes,  if  they 
can  be  had. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  our  little  boys  are  well :  their  parents 
are,  too. 

One  of  the  girls  proposed  to  be  sent  has  been  in  a 
poor  state  all  winter;  I  hoped  she  might  be  well  enough 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  331 

in  the  spring,  but  have  now  no  hopes.  Several  others  I 
have  tried,  whose  parents  are  not  willing  to  let  them  go 
so  far  off;  but  I  hope,  nevertheless,  to  send  two  by  the 
first  vessel  that  sails, — either  to  Captain  Coit,  of  New 
London,  according  to  Mr.  Whittaker's  direction,  or  by 
Captain  Loveman,  of  Middletown,  who  will  take  care 
of  the  children  till  you  can  leave  word  and  they  can  be 
conveyed  to  Lebanon. 

Mr.  Samuel  Finley  is  chosen  president  of  this  college 
in  the  room  of  the  dear  and  much  lamented  Mr.  Davies. 
You  will  easily  guess  I  have  not  much  time  at  com- 
mand.    Please  to  excuse  incorrectness,  etc.  etc.,  and  pre- 
sent affectionate  regards  to  your  spouse. 
I  am,  in  the  tenderest  bonds, 
Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 

BROTHERTON,  ON  MOUNT  CARMEL,  September  14,  1761. 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

With  this  I  have  at  last  sent  the  little  Indian  girls  to 
Middletown,  having  no  direct  way  to  convey  them  to 
Norwich.  It  has  given  me  no  small  uneasiness  that  I 
could  not  send  them  before.  I  have  sent  the  two  I  at 
first  proposed ;  not  being  able  to  prevail  with  the  parents 
of  any  other  to  let  their  child  go  so  far. 

She  that  was  sick  last  fall,  and  for  that  reason  could 
not  be  sent,  continued  so  all  winter,  and  until  the  sum- 
mer, but  seems  now  to  be  fully  recovered  and  quite 
well.  But  her  mother  for  some  time  past  has  been  in  a 
very  poor  way,  and  is  now  so  low  that  she  does  not  ex- 
pect ever  to  see  the  child  again  in  this  world  after  she 
parts  with  her, — which  is  an  affecting  circumstance. 


332  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD, 

The  name  of  the  elder  child  is  Miriam  Store.  She  is 
a  very  amiable  child,  and  I  have  much  reason  to  think 
was  savingly  converted  when  she  was  about  three  years 
old.  Her  life,  however,  has  hitherto  no  way  contradicted 
such  a  marvellous  work  as  seemed  then  to  be  wrought 
upon  her,  of  which  I  had  the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  to 
be  an  eye-witness.  I  could  not  then  determine  what  it 
was,  but  thought  multitude  of  days  would  speak. 

The  name  of  the  younger  is  Elizabeth  Quela;  has 
been  a  pretty-behaved  child  as  far  as  I  have  known,  but 
nothing  respecting  her  any  ways  remarkable.  They  were 
both  baptized  in  their  infancy ;  the  father  of  the  elder  and 
the  mother  of  the  younger  being  members  of  this  church. 
Miriam  will  be  twelve  years  old  if  she  lives  till  Decem- 
ber; Betty  will  be  ten  some  time  next  spring, 

They  have  had  very  little  schooling ;  and  the  younger, 
I  believe,  has  near  or  quite  lost  what  little  she  was 
taught. 

We  have  had  no  school  since  the  Indians  were  settled 
on  this  land,  nor  have  we  yet  any  thing  to  support  such 
an  expense.  I  have  thought  sometimes  of  trying  to  do 
something  at  it  myself;  but  the  country  round  about  me 
is  so  large,  and  so  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace,  that  I 
know  not  how  to  think  of  spending  my  time  with  a  few 
little  children.  I  am  in  hopes  that,  by  some  means  or 
other,  we  shall  be  able  after  a  while  to  set  up  a  school 
again. 

I  feel  tenderly  concerned  for  these  little  girls ;  and,  as 
it  is  a  very  considerable  thing  for  them  to  go  so  far  from 
their  parents  and  all  their  relations  and  acquaintances,  I 
hope  they  will  meet  with  the  kindest  and  best  treatment ; 
and  may  Heaven  succeed  the  design. 

I  have  had  the  favor  of  two  letters  from  you  this  sum- 
mer, and  when  I  received  them  was  somewhat  at  a  loss 


LIFE    OF    JOHN  BRAINERD.  333 

to  know  why  you  had  not  received  my  answer.  I  sent 
it  by  Mr.  Thompson,  and  at  the  same  time  an  answer 
to  one  I  received  from  Mr.  Oliver,  of  Boston.  I  have 
wanted  very  much  to  hear  from  Mr.  Thompson,  but 
have  heard  nothing  from  the  day  he  left  Nassau  Hall. 

Mr.  Occum  *  has  done  bravely.      I  heard  of  him  after 
his  arrival  among  the  Oneidas,  and  that  he  was  well  rc- 


*  As  the  name  of  Mr.  Occum  often  occurs,  some  account  of  him 
may  be  pertinent.  Sampson  Occum,  an  Indian  clergyman,  was  born 
at  Mohegan,  near  Norwich,  Conn.,  in  the  year  1733.  He  was  the 
first  Indian  pupil  educated  at  Lebanon  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wheelock, 
with  whom  he  entered  in  1742,  at  the  age  of  nine,  and  remained 
with  him  four  years.  In  1748  he  taught  school  in  New  London,  and 
about  the  year  1755  went  to  the  east  end  of  Long  Island,  where  he 
opened  a  school  for  the  Shenecock  Indians.  He  was  ordained  by  the 
Suffolk  Presbytery  in  August,  1759.  In  January,  1761,  he  visited 
the  Oneidas,  and  in  1766  was  sent  by  Mr.  Wheelock  to  England  with 
Mr.  Whittaker,  the  minister  of  Norwich,  in  order  to  promote  the  in- 
terest of  Moor's  school,  as  Mr.  Wheelock's  institution  at  Lebanon  was 
called. 

As  Occum  was  the  first  Indian  preacher  that  visited  England,  he 
attracted  large  audiences,  and  preached  between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred sermons.  About  ten  thousand  pounds  were  collected  for  esta- 
blishing schools  among  the  American  aborigines.  This  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  trustees,  of  whom  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  was  the  prin- 
cipal, and  Dr.  Wheelock's  school  was  removed  to  Hanover,  N.  H. 
On  Occum's  return  he  labored  among  his  countrymen,  and  removed 
eventually,  in  1786,  to  Brotherton,  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  whither  many 
Mohegans  and  Montauks  accompanied  him,  where  he  died  in  July, 
1792,  aged  fifty-nine.  He  was  accompanied  to  the  grave  by  upwards 
of  three  hundred  Indians. 

An  account  of  the  Indians  of  Montauk,  by  Occum,  is  published  in 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections.  He  published  a  sermon  at 
the  execution  of  Moses  Paul,  at  New  Haven,  September  2,  1772,  and 
much  of  his  correspondence  is  among  the  papers  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Hartford,  Conn.  A  portrait  of  him  was  published  in  one 
of  the  early  volumes  of  the  Evangelical  Magazine. — McClure's  Life 
of  Wheelock;  Memoirs  of  the  Countess  of  Huntington;  New  York  His- 
torical Collections;  Aliens  Biographical  Dictionary. 

29 


334  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

ceived :   I  suppose  you  have  had  later  advices.     Oh,  may 
Heaven  succeed  the  laudable  design ! 

I  am  very^  glad  to  hear  of  the  encouragement  your 
school  meets  with,  and  the  blessing  that  seems  to  attend 
your  endeavors;  particularly  the  visitation  it  has  met 
with  from  Heaven,  the  notice  taken  of  it  by  the  Mar- 
quis of  Lothian  and  the  Commissioners  in  Boston.  We 
do  not  write  to  the  marquis  now:  they  have  directed  us 
to  write  to  the  Preses  of  the  Committee  of  Directors, 
by  whom  all  the  Society's  business  is  transacted.  I  pro- 
pose soon  to  write  to  that  gentleman  (Mr.  Smollett),  and 
shall  take  occasion  to  mention  your  school,  by  which 
means  it  will  probably  come  before  the  whole  Society. 
I  would  be  most  heartily  willing  to  promote  that  laud- 
able design  in  every  possible  way,  but  doubt  whether  I 
can  be  of  any  use  in  the  suit  of  an  Incorporation  for  Indian 
affairs:  I  should  be  very  glad,  however,  to  converse  with 
you  a  few  hours  on  the  head.  For  that  and  other  reasons 
I  want  very  much  to  take  a  journey  into  New  England ; 
and  would  go  as  far  eastward  as  Boston,  but  I  know  not 
how  to  spare  the  time. 

I  supply  at  more  than  half  a  dozen  places  on  Lord's 
days  besides  this,  and  preach  lectures  on  other  days  of 
the  week  at  near  twenty, — so  large  is  this  destitute  coun- 
try; and  never  had  people  greater  need  of  ministerial 
help.  When  it  will  please  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to 
send  laborers  here  I  know  not ;  there  is  no  provision  for 
their  support. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  so  well  of  the  little  boys:  their 
parents  were  well  lately.  Jacob  Woolley  is  like  to  make 
a  good  scholar,  and  behaves  well. 

My  little  daughter  is  lately  returned  from  Cohansey, 
where  she  has  been  all  summer,  and  has  a  great  desire  to 
go  to  Mr.  Wheelock's  with  the  Indian  children,  to  learn 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  335 

good  things.     May-be,  sir,  you  may  sometimes  think  of 
her  in  your  retired  moments :   she  is  just  turned  of  six. 
Accept  of  all  duty  and  affection  from, 
Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

NASSAU  HALL,  December  9,  1761 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

Yesterday  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  favor 
of  the  6th  ultimo,  and  conversing  several  hours  with 
your  son.* 

Am  much  pleased  with  his  account  of  your  school, 
and  more  than  ever  confirmed  in  my  hopes  that  God  de- 
signs something  great  by  it. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  hear  of  the  safe  arrival  of  the 
Indian  child  I  sent  last,  of  the  comfortable  situation  of 
her  and  the  rest  of  the  children,  and  particularly  what 
you  inform  me  of  about  Hezekiah. 

Please  to  give  my  love  to  them:  their  parents  and 
friends  were  all  well  a  few  days  ago. 

Your  son  may  expect  every  thing  from  me  that  he 
might  from  a  father,  so  far  as  my  ability  reaches;  but 
whether  the  Commissioners  can  take  Joseph  [Woolley] 
under  their  care  depends  upon  our  hearing  from  the  So- 
ciety, and  what  we  hear.  We  have  had  nothing  yet 
from  that  quarter  for  Jacob's  support,  and  his  expenses 
have  for  some  time  been  borne  by  the  college  fund :  we 
hope  to  hear  from  the  Society  some  time  this  winter,  or 
in  the  spring  at  farthest.  You  may  depend  upon  every 

*  Dr.  Wheelock's  son  was  subject  to  nervous  spasms,  and  his 
health  broke  down  in  Princeton  College.  He  was  put  in  charge 
of  Brainerd. 


336  LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

thing  in  my  power  in  favor  of  your  proposal,  if  your  son 
is  suited  with  his  situation  and  inclines  to  continue  at  the 
college. 

I  am  very  unfortunate  in  not  seeing  dear  good  Mr. 
Pomroy.*  I  heard  of  his  being  gone  southward,  but 
could  not  learn  when  he  expected  to  return.  Hoped  to 
meet  him  here  at  this  time,  but  find  he  is  not  expected 
till  next  week,  and  uncertain  whether  then. 

My  best  regard  to  Mrs.  Wheelock.     I  write  in  haste, 
and  feel  so  aguish  this  morning  that  I  think  I  don't  do 
quite  so  well  as  common.     You  have  goodness  enough 
to  excuse  all,  and  to  believe  that  I  am 
Your  most  affectionate 

And  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 

*  The  Rev.  Benjamin  Pomroy,  D.D.,  minister  of  Hebron,  Conn., 
died  December  22,  1784.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  and 
his  daughter  married  Rev.  David  McClure.  As  a  friend  of  the  Re- 
vival and  of  Whitefield,  he  was  once  arrested  and  deprived  by  gov- 
ernment of  his  salary  seven  years.  Dr.  Trumbull  describes  him  as 
a  real  genius,  and  among  the  best  of  preachers  in  his  day. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  337 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

ME.  BRAINERD  ELECTED  MODERATOR  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  NEW  YORK 
AND  PHILADELPHIA — HIS  SERMON — REV.  SAMPSON  OCCUM — WEST- 
ERN MISSION — HIS  LETTER  FROM  GREAT  EGG  HARBOR. 

1762. 

1V/TR.  BRAINERD  was  this  year  elected  Mode- 
-L"J-  rator  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, at  its  annual  meeting  in  Philadelphia, 
May  19.  For  the  first  time  he  is  entered  as  a 
member  of  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  instead 
of  New  York.  Why  his  relation  was  changed  he 
does  not  tell  us ;  but  probably  the  accession  of  new 
elements  had  made  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
more  accordant  to  his  taste.  Fifty-nine  members 
were  present  in  the  Synod,  and  fifty-three  absent. 
Mr.  George  Duffield  was  made  clerk.  After  one 
hundred  years  a  Duffield  and  Brainerd  have  been 
often  associated  in  Philadelphia  ecclesiastical  bo- 
dies in  a  friendship  as  cordial  as  that  cherished  by 
their  namesakes  of  old.*  The  Synod  f  this  year, 
threatened  with  a  storm  about  "the  examination 


*  At  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  held  in 
May,  1864,  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  Thomas  Brainerd  was  elected  Modera- 
tor, and  George  Duffield,  Clerk, — a  singular  coincidence. 

f  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  317,  224. 
29* 


338  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

of  the  experiences  of  candidates,"  went  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole,  with  Mr.  Brainerd  in  the 
chair,  and  finally  reached  a  compromise,  which  did 
not  satisfy  all,  but  to  which  all  submitted.  Mr. 
Brainerd  seems  to  have  honored  his  office :  unless 
a  Moderator  can  do  this,  the  office  of  Moderator 
never  honors  him. 

We  have  no  report  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  missionary 
labors  this  year. 

1763. 

Mr.  Brainerd  opened  the  meeting  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  with  a  sermon 
from  John  ix.  4:  "  I  must  work  the  works  of  him 
that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day :  the  night  cometh, 
when  no  man  can  work."  A  characteristic  text, 
marking  the  practical,  energetic,  martyr-like  spirit 
of  the  preacher. 

No  theological  hair-splitting,  no  rancorous  con- 
troversy, no  transcendental  dreamings,  no  rhetori- 
cal flourishes,  no  parade  of  great  learning,  no  ego- 
tistic sentimentalism,  we  will  venture  to  affirm, 
had  a  place  in  that  sermon.  It  was  the  voice  of 
John  "crying  in  the  wilderness,"  that  men  should 
repent  and  do  works  meet  for  repentance.  Synod 
directed  that: — 

"The  members  who  have  made  collections  for  the  In- 
dian mission  are  ordered  to  pay  the  same  to  Mr.  Ewing 
before  to-morrow  morning. 

"  Ordered,  that  there  be  a  collection  made  in  all  the 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  339 

congregations  under  the  care  of  this  Synod,  both  in  those 
who  have  and  who  have  not  ministers  settled  among 
them,  for  the  Indian  mission  and  the  Indian  school ;  and 
that  every  Presbytery  take  care  that  the  collections  in 
their  vacancies  be  made  in  due  time;  and  that  thirty 
pounds  be  given  to  a  schoolmaster  for  the  ensuing  year; 
and  that  Messrs.  John  Meas,  John  Wallace,  George 
Bryans,  John  Bayard,  Isaac  Snowdon,  be  requested  to 
assist  Mr.  Brainerd  to  build  a  schoolhouse,  and  to  dis- 
pose of  the  money  collected  for  the  use  of  said  school, 
and  lay  the  accounts  before  the  next  Synod;  and  that 
Mr.  George  Bryan  be  appointed  treasurer  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

"  Ordered,  also,  that  Mr.  Ewing  procure  a  state  of  the 
accounts  of  Mr.  Sergeant,  relating  to  the  Indian  mission 
under  the  care  of  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  lay  them,  with  an 
account  of  the  money  received  by  himself,  before  the 
Synod  at  their  next  meeting. 

11 A  request  from  the  corporation  for  the  relief  of  poor 
and  distressed  Presbyterian  ministers,  etc.,  was  brought 
in  and  read,  which  is  as  follows : — 

"  '•Nov.  1 6,  1762.  At  a  meeting  of  the  corporation  in 
this  city  it  was  agreed,  that  this  board  appoint  some  of 
their  members  to  wait  on  the  Synod  at  their  next  meet- 
ing, and  in  their  name  request  that  some  missionaries  be 
sent  to  preach  to  the  distressed  frontier  inhabitants,  and 
to  report  their  distresses,  and  to  let  us  know  where  new 
congregations  are  forming,  and  what  is  necessary  to  be 
done  to  promote  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  them, 
and  that  they  inform  us  what  opportunities  there  may  be 
of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Indian  nations  in  their 
neighborhood. 

"  c  And  it  is  agreed  that  the  necessary  expenses  of  these 
missionaries  be  paid  by  this  board,  and  that  Messrs.  John 


340  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Meas,  Dr.  Redman,  William  Humphreys,  George  Bryans, 
Treat,  Ewing,  and  the  secretary,  wait  on  the  Synod,  and 
earnestly  press  them  to  grant  this  request.' 

"In  consequence  of  the  above  request,  the  Synod  ap- 
point Messrs.  Beatty  and  Brainerd  to  go  on  the  aforesaid 
mission,  as  soon  as  they  can  conveniently,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  return  to  make  a  report  to  the  corporation  at  their 
next  general  meeting  in  October ;  and  that  Messrs.  Wil- 
liam Tennent,  sen.,  McKnight,  and  Hunter  supply  Mr. 
Brainerd's  pulpit  and  take  care  of  his  concerns  among  the 
Indians,  and  that  Mr.  Treat  supply  Mr.  Beatty's  pulpit 
once  every  three  Sabbaths.  Mr.  Chestnut  is  to  supply 
at  Barnegate  and  Manehockin  the  first  Sabbath  of  Sep- 
tember." 

This  mission  failed ;  the  Synod,  next  year,  say : — 

uThe  Moderator  and  Mr.  Brainerd  were  prevented 
from  fulfilling  the  order  of  the  Synod  in  their  mission  to 
the  frontiers,  and  the  whole  design  of  the  mission  was 
entirely  prostrated  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  Indian 

))      O, 

war. 

Messrs.  Duffield  and  Beatty  afterwards  accom- 
plished this  work. 

We  have  only  one  letter  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  this 
year:  it  is  mainly  devoted  to  Dr.  Wheelock's 
affairs.  We  give  a  brief  extract: — 

GREAT  EGG  HARBOR,  June  6,  1763. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  thank  you  for  the  letter  by  your  son,  and  your  kind 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  335. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  341 

present  of  the  pamphlet  giving  account  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  your  school. 

I  spoke  to  Dr.  Alison  in  favor  of  it :  found  he  was  fur 
nished  with  one  of  your  books.     He  seemed  cordial,  but 
was  afraid  nothing  could  be  obtained  at  present  from  the 
fund. 

I  expect  to  set  out  some  time  next  month,  in  company 
with  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Beatty,  on  a  journey  to  the  remote 
Indians.  We  propose  to  go  up  the  branches  of  the  Sus 
quehanna,  from  thence  to  Alleghany,  down  to  Pittsburgh 
and  parts  adjacent,  and  endeavor  to  learn  the  state  and 
temper  of  the  Indians.  I  hope  it  may  have  some  good 
effects. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock :  love  to  the  chil- 
dren in  the  school.  The  parents  of  those  belonging  to 
us  were  well  lately.  I  am  more  encouraged  with  our 
Indians  than  some  time  ago :  they  are  more  sober  and 
industrious. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  at  their 
last  session  determined  to  support  a  school  among  them; 
and  voted  Mr.  Occum  £65  for  the  current  year  to  assist 
him  in  his  mission.  I  hope  God  intends  some  good  to 
the  poor  Indians :  may  the  time  haste  when  the  earth 
shall  be  filled  with  his  glory. 

I  am  yours,  etc.,, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEILOCK. 

29* 


342  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

SYNODICAL  ACTION — JACOB  WOOLLEY — WHITEFIELD's  SUCCESS  IN  COL- 
LECTING MONEY — A  REVIVAL  NEEDED — SICKNESS  OF  GILBERT  TEN- 
NENT — SENDING  OCCUM  TO  EUROPE. 

1764. 

rPHIS  was  one  of  the  most  important  years  in 
Mr.  Brainerd's  life.  In  the  Synod  he  must 
have  been  a  most  influential  member.  He  was 
put  on  the  Committee  "to  appropriate  the  money 
for  pious  youths  in  Princeton  College,"  made  one 
of  the  members  of  the  "Commission"  for  the  year, 
and  one  of  the  "Committee  of  Correspondence 
with  the  American  and  Foreign  Churches,"  which 
comprehended  delegates  from  New  England. 
The  Synod  say  :— 

"The  Indian  affairs  come  under  consideration,  and 
Mr.  Brainerd  reports  that  there  has  been  paid  into  his 
hands  the  sum  of  twenty-eight  pounds,  nineteen  shillings, 
and  four-pence,  provincial  currency,  which  money,  with 
other  collections  that  are  or  may  be  put  into  his  hands, 
the  Synod  order  to  be  laid  out,  as  in  manner  ordered  last 
year,  for  the  support  of  the  Indian  school ;  and  that  the 
money  allowed  for  the  support  of  the  master  shall  not 
exceed  fifty  pounds  provincial  currency ;  and  further  ap- 
point that  a  collection  be  made  this  year  also,  through 
their  bounds,  for  the  support  of  said  school,  and  that 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  343 

each  Presbytery  take  care  that  said  collection  be  duly 
made  through  their  bounds,  and  that  they  lay  their  ac- 
counts, regularly  adjusted,  before  our  next  Synod. 

"  And  Mr.  Brainerd  further  reports,  that  there  appears 
to  have  been  paid  to  Mr.  Occum  about  the  sum  of  thirty- 
four  pounds,  provincial  currency."* 

Mr.  Brainerd' s  letters  furnish  a  glimpse  of  his 
manner  of  life. 

BROTHER-TON,  March  31,  1764. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

Yours  of  December  1763,  came  last  evening  by  your 
son,  who  is  now  with  me,  and  Mr.  Kirkland, f  a  very 

*  Presbyterian  Records,  p.  336. 

f  Mr.  Kirkland,  "the  pretty,  agreeable  youth,"  was  afterwards  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  a  missionary  among  the  Indians,  who  died 
March  28,  1808,  aged  sixty-six.  He  donated  the  land  for  Hamilton 
College ;  and  it  may  be  said  that  through  him  and  Dr.  Wheelock  both 
Hamilton  and  Dartmouth  Colleges  rose  up,  indirectly  but  really,  as  a 
result  of  Indian  missions. 

"Mr.  Kirkland  was  the  son  of  Daniel  Kirkland,  minister  of  Nor- 
wich. After  enjoying  for  some  time  the  advantages  of  Wheelock's 
school,  he  finished  his  education  at  the  College  in  New  Jersey,  where 
he  graduated  in  1765.  While  at  school  he  had  learned  the  language 
of  the  Mohawks,  and  he  commenced  a  journey  to  the  Seneca  Indians, 
in  order  to  acquire  their  language,  November  20,  1764,  and  did  not 
return  till  May,  1766.  June  19  he  was  ordained  at  Lebanon  as  a 
missionary  to  the  Indians.  He  removed  his  wife  to  Oneida  Castle  in 
1769.  She  was  Jerusha  Bingham,  whose  mother  was  a  sister  of  Pre- 
sident E.  Wheelock,  in  whose  family  she  long  lived.  In  the  spring 
he  went  to  the  house  of  his  friend  General  Herkimer,  at  Little  Falls, 
and  them  his  twin  children  were  born,  August  17,  1770,  of  whom  one 
was  President  Kirkland,  of  Harvard  College.  His  daughter  Jerusha 
married  John  H.  Lothrop,  of  Utica,  the  father  of  Rev.  S.  K.  Lothrop, 
of  Boston.  About  1772  he  removed  to  Connecticut,  and  afterwards 
lived  for  a  time  at  Stockbridge.  For  more  than  forty  years  his  atten- 
tion was  directed  to  the  Oneida  tribe  in  New  York,  and  he  died  at 


344  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

pretty,  agreeable  youth:  I  hope  the  Lord  designs  to 
make  him  a  blessing  to  his  church.  Your  son  is  tole- 
rably well. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  have  such  a  melancholy  account 
of  Jacob  Woolley ;  but  he  is  in  the  hand  of  God,  and 
we  must  pray  for  him.  His  grandmother  and  aunts  were 
very  much  affected  when  we  told  them  to-day,  which 
was  done  in  the  most  prudent  manner.  I  am  likewise 
pained  for  poor  Enoch  Class ;  am  afraid  he  will  be  wicked. 
But  what  your  son  tells  me  of  Josey  and  the  rest  is  com- 
fortable: may  the  Lord  perfect  what  is  lacking. 

With  pleasure  I  heard  of  the  collection  at  New  York 
for  your  school,  by  the  instrumentality  of  our  dear  and 
very  worthy  Mr.  Whitefield.  The  Lord  makes  him  a 
blessing  wherever  he  goes:  may  he  long  be  continued 
such  to  the  Church  of  God. 

New  York  and  the  churches  in  these  parts  have  met 
with  a  very  great  loss  in  the  death  of  dear  Mr.  Bostwick. 
I  know  not  how  the  vacancy  will  be  filled  up;  but  the 
great  Lord  of  the  harvest  lives. 

Our  valuable  young  brother  Mr.  C.  J.  Smith  has  been 
faithfully  laboring  in  these  frozen  parts  all  winter,  and  is, 
I  trust,  an  helpmeet  of  very  considerable  good  in  this  un- 
cultivated world.  He  is  a  good  young  man :  he  will  tarry 
five  or  six  Sabbaths  longer  with  us. 

I  have  greatly  to  mourn  my  unsuccessfulness  among 
the  Indians,  and  yet  (I  thank  God !)  some  good  is  done. 
I  have  had  three  persons  under  examination  some  time 
for  baptism,  two  of  whom  have  evidently  been  wrought 
upon  of  late,  and  one  or  two  great  backsliders  give  some 
hopes  of  returning.  The  prospects  among  the  while 


Clinton,  in  that  State,  the  place  of  his  residence  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Oneida." — Aliens  Biographical  Dictionary. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  345 

h n    appear    something    encouraging  in    several    in- 
stances.     All  glory  to  Him  who  does  all  things  well! 

My  kind  salutations  to  the  children :  their  parents  are 
all  well. 

I  redeem  a  few  moments  to  write  this  from  my  sleep: 
It  is  between  eleven  and  twelve,  and  my  pen  writes  very 
badly.  Adieu. 

Honored  and  dear  sir, 

I  am  yours  till  death, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 


The  hopes  of  both  Dr.  Wheelock  and  Brainerd 
to  make  their  educated  Indians  useful  begin  to 
shake. 

BROTHERTON,  June  17,  1764. 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR : 

This  incloses  a  line  to  poor  Jacob  Woolley :  I  wish  it 
may  have  some  good  effect  on  his  mind.  His  awful  apos- 
tasy is  truly  affecting,  and  very  distressing:  the  Lord,  in 
great  mercy,  bring  him  again  to  the  exercise  of  his  reason 
and  make  him  yet  a  vessel  of  honor. 

I  have  sent  the  letter  open  (written  in  some  haste), 
that,  if  you  judge  it  not  best  to  send,  you  may  suppress 
it,  or  alter,  or  add,  as  you  think  proper.  Oh  that  the 
Lord  would  reclaim  other  apostates  too,  awaken  sinners, 
comfort  saints,  and  build  up  Zion !  Blessed  be  his  holy 
name  for  the  good  news  we  have  from  Long  Island  and 
some  other  parts :  may  this  glorious  work  overspread  the 
land  and  become  a  praise  in  the  whole  earth !  There  is 
little  of  it  in  these  parts :  I  hope  our  infinitely  gracious 
God  will  hear  prayer  and  revive  his  work.  We  kept 
a  fast,  by  Synodical  appointment,  the  day  before  yes- 
terday, principally  on  that  account.  Oh,  when  shall  we 

30 


346  LIFE   OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

"see  his  tribes  rejoice, 
And  aid  the  triumph  with  our  voice"  ? 

It  is  certainly  a  mournful  time  now;  yet,  alas!  how  few 
mourners !  may  the  number  be  multiplied  by  thousands ! 

In  my  neighborhood  there  is  little  more  than  some  dis- 
tant prospects,  such  as  people  becoming  disposed  to  exert 
themselves  to  build  meeting-houses,  propose  for  the  set- 
tlement of  ministers,  etc.,  which  yet  has  something  en- 
couraging in  it ;  and  I  would  hope  the  time  draws  near 
when  a  glorious  shower  will  fall  upon  us.  Oh,  may  it 
be  plenteous  and  extensive !  Dear  Mr.  C.  J.  Smith  has 
been  very  helpful  in  the  winter  past. 

I  am  in  a  poor,  low  state  of  body,  scarce  able  to  go  on 
with  my  work  anyhow.  I  thought  sometimes  last  win- 
ter I  must  have  wholly  desisted;  but  was  considerably 
better  in  the  spring;  otherwise  I  believe  I  should  have 
attempted  a  journey  into  New  England.  Now  for  about 
three  or  four  weeks  I  have  been  down  again,  very  weak 
and  languid :  nevertheless,  I  do  officiate  in  several  places 
as  well  as  I  can.  Ministerial  help  is  greatly  needed  in 
this  neighborhood :  half  a  dozen  ministers  might  be  well 
employed  here  every  Sabbath.  How  afflicting  to  have 
the  faithful  laborers  so  disproportioned  to  the  harvest: 
may  the  Lord  greatly  increase  their  number ! 

Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  is  far  gone  with  a  kind  of  fever- 
ish habit ;  he  has  not  been  able  to  preach  for  some  time, 
and  in  all  probability  will  not  continue  long.  He  has 
been,  you  know,  a  laborious  servant  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard, and  we  know  not  how  to  spare  such ;  but  the  resi- 
due of  the  Spirit  is  with  Christ. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock.  I  have  not  heard 
whether  your  son  is  come  to  college :  my  love  to  him  if 
he  is  at  home,  and  Mr.  Kirkland.  My  little  daughter 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  347 

sends  duty  to  Mr.  Wheelock  and  Mrs.  Wheelock,  and 
desires  in  the  best  manner  she  can  to  express  her  grate- 
ful sense  of  your  son's  kindness  in  the  present  he  sent 
her  after  he  was  here  last  spring,  and  Mr.  Kirkland  for 
his. 

The  [Indian]  children's  parents  and  relations  are  all 
well.  I  send  my  love  to  them,  and  a  solemn  charge  to 
behave  well  and  be  good  children. 

I  humbly  ask  the  continuance  of  your  prayers  for  me 
and  mine,  and  am,  with  greatest  respect 
Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — My  little  daughter  comes  in  while  I  am  folding 
up  this,  and  says  that  Mr.  Wheelock  has  two  little  daugh- 
ters, whom  she  desires  to  be  remembered  to  in  the  kind- 
est and  most  respectful  manner,  which,  she  says,  is  the 
least  she  can  do:  she  would  write  to  them  if  she  had 
time.  The  little  monitor  has  freshened  my  memory  and 
reminded  me  of  my  duty,  in  consequence  of  which  I  send 
my  affectionate  regards  to  your  family. 

Did  the  Eev.  George  Whitefield  originate  the 
idea  of  which  Dartmouth  College  was  the  final 
result?  It  would  seem  from  the  following  letter 
that  Whitefield,  through  John  Brainerd,  first  pro- 
posed to  Dr.  Wheelock  the  plan  of  removing  his 
school  from  Lebanon  to  the  Indian  Border,  up  the 
Connecticut,  and  to  send  Occum  to  England  to 
beg  for  it.  These  two  ideas,  whoever  originated 
them,  founded  Dartmouth  College. 


348  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 


BROTHER-TON,  October  9,  1764. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

Yours  of  yth  August  I  received  at  Commencement, 
but  could  not  possibly  get  a  moment  to  write  then.  Am 
greatly  afflicted  that  my  miserable,  wretched  creatures 
are  such  a  trouble  to  you,  and  like  to  turn  out  so  poorly 
after  all.  The  Lord  pity  and  help  us !  Alas !  I  am  greatly 
distressed  at  home  too:  some  of  the  Indians  behave  in- 
conceivably bad ! 

I  know  not  what  the  Lord  designs  with  these  distressed 
creatures :  oh  that  His  infinite  mercy  may  reach  our  de- 
plorable case !  We  have  had  several  days  of  fasting  and 
prayer  of  late,  besides  what  have  been  of  public  appoint- 
ment, and  the  Lord  is  gracious  to  us  in  many  respects, 
forever  adored  be  his  sacred  name !  Some  Christians  are 
considerably  enlivened,  and  some  are  lately  added,  of  such 
as,  I  hope,  shall  be  saved. 

I  had  an  interview  last  week  with  Mr.  Whitefield,  at 
Philadelphia.  He  was  indeed  at  Princeton,  and  preached 
Commencement-morning  half-after  eight ;  but  I  could  get 
no  time  with  him  that  day,  and  next  morning  early  he 
went  off  westward.  He  says  he  will  do  all  in  his  power 
to  raise  a  fund  for  Indian  service  in  Great  Britain,  etc., 
if  a  good  plan  can  be  laid,  and  that  he  thinks  I  must  go 
with  Messrs.  Occum  and  Fowler  to  transact  the  affair.  But 
how  can  my  extensive,  extremely  necessitous  charge  be 
taken  care  of?  I  also  alleged  my  unfitness  for  such  an 
important  undertaking  with  real  sincerity  and,  I  think, 
much  propriety.  But  he  said,  "  I  was  Mr.  David  Brain- 
erd's  brother,"  etc.  I  mentioned  Mr.  C.  J.  Smith.  He 
objected  to  his  youth,  want  of  experience  and  acquaint- 
ance with  mankind.  I  said  then,  Mr.  Smith  must  sup- 
ply my  place ;  but  Mr.  Smith  is  up  the  North  River,  and 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  349 

could  not  hear  a  word  of  what  we  said, — and  thus  the 
matter  stands. 

Mr.  Whitefield  has  written  to  him  to  be  in  Philadelphia 
some  time  this  month :  perhaps  he  will  be  the  man,  after 
all,  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  For  my  part,  I  feel  just  at  the 
disposal  of  Heaven.  I  should  be  glad  of  the  advantage 
of  a  year  in  Great  Britain,  not  to  mention  the  agreeable- 
ness  of  such  a  tour  and  how  much  it  would  gratify  my 
curiosity:  I  have  also  tender  connections  here,  and  it  is 
likely  it  would  be  with  loss  to  my  outward  circumstances, 
etc.  But  all  these  I  entirely  set  aside,  and  feel  myself 
wholly  at  the  disposal  of  Divine  Providence.  Where  I 
can  be  the  instrument  of  most  good  and  best  serve  the 
interest  of  our  dear  Divine  Master,  that  is  the  spot,  and 
no  other :  may  Heaven  direct  and  order  for  the  best ! 

But  what  plan  will  you  lay  ?  Mr.  Whitefield  thinks 
a  tract  of  land  should  be  procured  and  a  house  built,  and 
he  would  be  glad  as  near  as  might  be  to  the  Indian  settle- 
ments ;  that  the  boys  should  be  taught  all  sorts  of  plan- 
tation-work, to  read  and  write  English,  arithmetic,  etc. ; 
but  that  it  would  be  quite  lost  to  teach  them  the  dead  lan- 
guages, etc.,  as  I  suppose  he  told  you  at  your  interview. 

I  am  glad  you  have  a  Commission  for  Correspondents 
in  Connecticut :  cannot  you  and  we  correspond  as  bodies  ? 
We  have  written,  desiring  the  Society  to  send  Letters  of 
Commission  to  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College,  and 
make  that  board,  for  the  time  being,  their  Correspondents 
and  Commissioners  for  propagating  the  gospel  among  the 
Indians;  but  have  no  return  yet.  It  is  likely  the  Society 
will  grant  our  request. 

I  am  sorry  for  your  poor,  dear  son :  the  Lord  grant  him 
the  grace  of  patience  and  resignation  to  his  will,  and  send 
him  help  in  the  best  time !  I  cannot,  as  a  friend,  advise 
him  to  apply  for  a  degree  unless  he  is  at  least  tolerably 

3D* 


350  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

well  qualified  with  learning.  The  trustees,  as  such,  can- 
not think  of  showing  favor,  how  much  soever  they  would 
be  desirous  to  oblige  as  private  friends. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock;  kind  love  to  your 
son,  Kirkland,  and  the  Indian  children, — their  parents  are 
generally  well. 

My  humble,  affectionate  salutations  to  the  reverend 
Commissioners,  particularly  dear  Mr.  Pomroy ;    my  little 
daughter  sends  duty  to  Mrs.  Wheelock,  and  love  to  dear 
little  misses.      Pray  do  not  at  any  time  forget, 
Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate,  unworthy 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Mr.  Brainerd  seemed  to  acquiesce  in  his  pro- 
posed visit  to  Europe  with  Mr.  Occum.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  is  on  the  subject,  though  some  parts 
are  unintelligible  at  this  day.  Precisely  what  he 
expected  of  Mr.  Livingston  he  does  not  tell  us. 

NEW  YORK,  December  19,  1764. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  :  — 

I  arrived  here  yesterday  in  the  forenoon ;  after  dinner 
waited  on  Mr.  Wm.  Livingston.  Delivered  your  letter, 
and  he  read  the  copies:  thinks  highly  of  your  school,  as 
also  Mr.  P.  V.  B.,  his  brother,  who  read  them  before 
dinner.  Afterwards  I  waited  on  Mr.  David  Vanhorn, 
who  says  Mr.  Whitefield  is  friendly  to  your  school  and 
desirous  to  promote  it,  but  did  not  think  well  of  Mr.  Oc- 
rum's  tour:  I  set  the  matter  in  as  good  a  light  as  I  could. 
Then  I  waited  on  the  Hon.  Mr.  Smith  and  his  lady,  and 
did  as  you  bid  me.  His  three  eldest  sons  were  there, — 
the  third,  a  doctor,  lately  from  England,  France,  and  Hol- 
land, where  he  has  spent  several  years.  They  read  the 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  351 

copies,  seemed  much  pleased,  and  the  doctor  begged  that 
he  might  copy  that  from  Onohquanga,  at  least.  They 
expressed  great  satisfaction  respecting  your  school,  and 
seem  to  think  it  will  be  best  to  have  it  continued  where 
it  is,  and  particularly  Mr.  Wm.,  the  eldest  son,  was  very 
full  in  that  opinion.  They  doubt  of  Mr.  Occum's  capa- 
city,— say  he  preached  very  poorly  here ;  but  Mrs.  Smith 
thinks  he  would  do,  and  they  say  he  might,  if  he  could  get 
more  acquaintance  with  men  and  things,  carefully  study 
a  number  of  sermons  and  commit  them  to  memory,  etc. 
Mrs.  Smith  can  think  of  no  man  that  would  do  to  go  with 
him  but  Mr.  Rodgers :  your  humble  servant,  you  may  be 
sure,  was  not  mentioned.  I  am  satisfied,  and  still  feel 
as  I  did  at  your  house ;  but  more  than  ever  think  it  ne- 
cessary that  the  matter  should  be  agitated  and  determined 
soon,  that  I  may  know  what  to  depend  upon;  for  it  must 
take  me  a  good  while  to  settle  my  affairs  and  make  neces- 
sary provision.  I  would  go  as  strong  as  possible. 

Mr.  P.  V.  B.  Livingston  mentioned  Mr.  Occum's  in- 
capacity,— that  on  the  whole  he  hopes  he  might  do;  he 
would  have  another  with  him,  and,  if  possible,  a  Mo- 
hawk. They  all  say  it  would  be  of  great  advantage  at 
least,  if  not  necessary,  that  those  who  go,  especially  the 
Indians,  should  be  well  acquainted  with  the  interior  parts 
of  this  land,  Canada,  the  lakes,  forts,  Indian  towns,  cas- 
tles, etc.  I  am  sensible  it  would  be  a  good  thing ;  but 
every  thing  cannot  be  obtained.  However,  as  there  is 
now  peace  with  the  Indians,  it  might  be  worthy  of  thought 
whether  it  would  not  be  best  to  spend  a  year  in  getting 
such  acquaintance.  I  propose,  if  the  weather  will  per- 
mit, to  set  out  this  afternoon  for  New  Jersey.  Hope  to 
hear  from  you  by  your  son :  forgot  to  ask  you  to  let  him 
come  and  tarry  with  me  as  many  days  as  he  can  when  he 
comes  to  Princeton. 


352  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock;    compliments  to 
the  young  ladies,  Mr.  Lothrop,  and  Mr.  Smith;    love  to 
the  children,  etc.    Please  to  correct  inaccuracies, — I  write 
in  haste, — and  accept  most  cordial  salutations  from, 
Revejend  sir, 

Your  affectionate  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev'd  Mr.  WHEELOCK. 

Dr.  Wheelock,  a  shrewd  and  statesmanlike  man 
in  the  Church,  eagerly  caught  at  Whitefield's  idea, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  appeal  which 
he  made  to  the  Correspondents : — 

"  To  the  Honorable  Board  of  Correspondents  in  the  Province 
of  New  York  and  New  "Jersey ,  commissioned  by  the  Honor 
able  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Know 
ledge. 

"The  Memorial  of  Eleazar  Wheelock,  of  Lebanon,  in 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  humbly  showeth : — 

14  That,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  endeavors  used, 
the  Indian  Charity  School,  which  he  has  for  several  years 
last  past  had  under  his  immediate  care,  is  now  increased 
to  the  number  twenty-six ;  and  the  prospect  both  of  the 
increase  of  their  number  and  the  usefulness  of  the  under- 
taking, as  well  as  the  expense  of  it,  is  yet  growing;  that 
several  of  this  number  are  young  gentlemen  whom  he 
apprehends  to  be  well  accomplished  for  a  mission  among 
the  Indians,  and  ten  others  of  them  are  Indian  youth, 
whom  he  esteems  well  qualified  for  schoolmasters,  ex 
cepting  that  some  of  them  yet  want  age,  which  difficulty, 
he  supposes,  may  be  well  accommodated  by  their  being 
under  the  inspection,  direction,  and  conduct  of  the  mis- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  353 

sionaries,  and  such  of  the  schoolmasters  as  are  of  ripe 
age  and  judgment  are  ready  to  be  authorized  and  sent 
with  them. 

"These  are,  therefore,  to  pray  your  Honorable  Board 
to  take  it  into  consideration,  and  grant  the  concurrence 
of  your  endeavors  with  ours  in  these  parts  for  the  further- 
ance and  speedy  accomplishment  of  the  design  in  view ; 
and  particularly  that  you  would  grant  liberty  to  the  Rev. 
John  Brainerd,  your  missionary,  to  go  to  Europe  in  com- 
pany with  an  Indian  from  these  parts,  to  solicit  the  cha- 
rity of  such  as  are  of  ability  for  the  support  of  this  school, 
and  such  missionaries  and  schoolmasters  as  Divine  Provi- 
dence shall  enable  us  to  send ;  and  that  you  would  com- 
missionate,  authorize,  and  suitably  recommend  him,  said 
Brainerd,  for  that  purpose,  and  also  recommend  the  design 
itself  to  the  charity  of  God's  people  abroad,  etc. 

"All  which  is,  with  much  respect,  honorable  gentle- 
men, humbly  submitted  to  your  consideration  and  deter- 
mination by 

"Your  most  obedient 

"And  most  humble  servant, 

"ELEAZAR  WHEELOCK, 

"Dated  at  Lebanon,  in  Connecticut, 

"January  14,  1765."* 

Dr.  Wheelock  accompanied  his  petition  with  the 
following  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Correspondents : — 

"LEBANON,  January  14,  1765. 

"SiR:— 

"  I  am  informed  that  the  calling  your  Board  of  Com- 
missioners together  is  committed  to  you,  which  occasions 


*  Manuscript  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  furnished  by  Dr.  Allen. 
30* 


354  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

you  the  present  trouble.  You  will  see  by  the  prayer  in- 
closed what  is  designed,  and  the  difficulty  of  proceeding 
in  any  other  manner  at  present. 

"  If  your  Board  shall  see  fit  to  return  answer  in  favor 
of  my  request,  I  pray  you  would  not  fail  to  make  as 
speedy  return  to  me  as  may  be ;  for  I  would  not  fail  to 
have  every  thing  done  that  is  necessary  and  suitable,  to 
put  Mr.  Brainerd  under  all  advantages  possible  to  serve 
the  design  in  the  proposed  tour. 

"Please,  sir,  to  accept  sincere  respects 
"From  your  unknown  friend, 
"And  very  humble  servant, 

"ELEAZAR  WHEELOCK. 

"  WM.  PEARTREE  SMITH,  Eiq." 

Why  Mr.  Brainerd  failed  to  carry  out  the  sug- 
gestion of  Whitefield  and  the  desire  of  Dr.  Whee- 
lock,  that  he  should  go  with  Occum  to  Europe,  and 
why  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  of  Norwich, 
Conn.,  took  his  place,  we  are  left  to  conjecture. 
The  mission  realized  fifty  thousand  dollars;  and, 
though  the  Indian  school  finally  died  out,  Dart- 
mouth College  arose  as  the  result  of  the  mission. 
We  are  sorry,  on  his  own  account,  that  Mr.  Brain- 
erd lost  the  personal  benefits  of  the  contemplated 
European  tour.  The  modesty  that  declined  noto- 
riety and  despised  intrigue  and  spiritual  ambition 
made  it  more  desirable  that  his  friends  should  give 
him  position  and  prominence.  It  was  hard  to  find 
one  willing  to  labor  in  the  wilderness  for  the  poor 
Indians,  but  easy  to  select  a  man  ready  to  travel 
for  them  in  Great  Britain.  Desirable  posts  in 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  355 

Church  and  State  never  "go  a-begging."  The 
,  Rev.  Mr.  Whitaker  performed  his  duties  with  en- 
ergy and  success  in  Europe.  He  went  recom- 
mended by  Sir  William  Johnson,  Lord  Sterling, 
and  General  Thomas  Gage,  by  six  royal  Gov- 
ernors, many  eminent  judges,  senators,  lawyers, 
and  merchants,  and  by  fifty-eight  of  the  leading 
clergymen  of  all  denominations  in  America.  This 
gave  the  mission  weight  in  England,  while  the 
novelty  of  the  Indian  Occum's  preaching  drew 
crowds  to  hear  the  appeals  of  the  mission.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitaker  also  published  his  appeals  in 
a  little  book,  issued  in  London,  1765.  He  was 
the  right  man  in  the  right  place. 


356  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

MR.   BRAINERD    DECLINES  TO   GO   TO   NEW   YORK — HIS   LETTER  OF   CON- 
DOLENCE— HIS  SALARY — DISAPPOINTMENTS  IN   HIS   INDIAN   YOUTH. 

1765. 

rTlHE  Synodical  "Commission,"  of  which  Mr. 
Brainerd  was  for  several  years  a  member,  was 
a  "committee  ad  interim*  borrowed  from  the 
Scotch  judicatories.  It  had,  during  the  year,  the 
authority  of  the  Synod  itself,  and  its  sessions  were 
as  formally  opened  with  a  sermon.*  Mr.  Brain- 
erd's  continued  membership  of  this  committee 
marks  his  status  among  his  brethren. 

The  Synod,  as  usual,  granted  Mr.  Brainerd  the 
interest  on  the  Indian  fund  "as  an  addition  to  his 
salary."  They  also 

"Ordered,  that  a  collection  be  made  for  propagating 
the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  and  for  teaching  their 
children ;  and  that  the  several  Presbyteries  take  care  it 
be  made  in  all  their  congregations,  as  well  in  those  that 
want  as  in  those  that  have  settled  ministers;  and  that 

*  "I  have  before  me,  in  a  pamphlet,  a  sermon  preached  before  the 
Commission  of  the  Synod  at  Philadelphia,  April  20, 1735,  by  E.  Pem- 
berton,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  dedication  '  to  the  Reverend  Commission  of  the  Synod '  refers  to 
its  having  been  'preached  in  obedience  to  your  commands.'  " — Dr. 
Hall's  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Trenton,  p.  94. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  B REINER D.  357 

each  Presbytery  appoint  some  member  to  bring  into  next 
Synod  a  particular  account  how  every  congregation  in 
their  bounds  has  complied  with  this  order."  * 

New  appeals  from  aggrieved  parties  were  given 
entirely  into  the  bands  of  two  committees,  to  meet 
at  the  residence  of  the  parties  "to  issue  arid  deter- 
mine both  those  matters."  As  a  peace-maker,  Mr. 
Brainerd  had  a  place  on  each  of  these  committees. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock,  writing  to  Sir  William 
Johnson,  says: — 

"The  Board  of  Correspondents  in  New  Jersey  have 
been  applied  to  for  Mr.  Brainerd  for  the  Oneida  mission ; 
but,  for  several  reasons,  he  cannot  be  obtained. "f 

The  following  letter  of  condolence  to  an  afflicted 
friend  presents  the  writer  in  a  very  amiable  light. 
The  lady  addressed  we  have  already  described : — J 

NEWARK,  September  16,  1765. 

MADAM: — 

I  have  lately  had  the  mournful  news  of  the  much  la- 
mented death  of  Colonel  Williams,  your  honored  and 
very  worthy  consort.  I  heartily  condole  with  you  in  this 
great  and  public  loss, — great  to  many,  but  greatest  of  all 
to  you.  But,  whoever  is  the  loser,  he  is  doubtless  an  in- 
finite gainer.  He  has  exchanged  darkness  for  light,  and 
a  vale  of  tears  for  a  crown  of  glory ;  left  a  world  of  sin 
and  sorrow  for  the  perfection  of  holiness  and  everlasting 

*  Presbyterian  Records,  p.  350. 

f  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  iv.  p.  357. 

t  See  p.  316. 

31 


358  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

joys,  where  he  has  the  beautiful  sight  of  Christ  and  the 
blissful  enjoyment  of  him,  and  out  of  all  danger  of  ever 
losing  the  glorious  vision  and  blessed  fruition  while  time 
and  eternity  endure.  This,  madam,  must  needs  be  matter 
of  unspeakable  comfort  to  you  under  the  afflicting  hand 
of  God,  in  the  sore  bereavement  you  have  lately  been 
exercised  with,  and  especially  as  you  expect  shortly, 
through  Infinite  Grace,  to  ascend  yourself  and  join  the 
same  glorious  company, — I  mean  the  general  assembly, 
consisting  of  angels,  archangels,  and  the  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect, — there  to  spend  a  blessed  eternity; 
not  in  the  company  of  your  dearest  earthly  friend  only, 
but  in  the  enjoyment  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  the  com- 
mon friend  of  lost  and  perishing  man.  May  these  and 
the  like  considerations  support  you  under  the  heavy 
stroke;  and  may  you  sensibly  have  the  comfort  of  that 
blessed  promise:  "All  things  shall  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God."  That  the  Lord  may 
favor  you  with  much  of  his  divine  and  gracious  pre- 
sence, much  more  than  make  up  the  loss  you  sustain  in 
the  death  of  a  most  valuable  man  and  the  dearest  of 
earthly  relations,  and  after  many  profitable  and  comfort- 
able days  on  earth  admit  you  to  join  the  adoring  hosts 
above,  and  spend  a  blessed  eternity  in  the  rapturous 
vision  and  fruition  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  is  the  un- 
feigned desire  and  prayer  of,  madam, 

Your  obliged,  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  Mrs.  WILLIAMS,  widow  and  relict  of 

Colonel  Elisha  Williams,  late  of  Wethersfield,  Conn. 

We  ought,  perhaps,  here  to  remind  the  reader 
that,  though  we  have  hitherto  regarded  Mr.  Brain - 
erd  mainly  as  a  laborer  among  the  Indians  of  Bro- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  359 

therton,  he  in  fact,  from  his  first  advent  there,  as- 
sumed the  responsibility  of  a  domestic  missionary 
among  the  destitute  whites  of  the  New  Jersey 
Pines  and  along  a  coast  of  nearly  one  hundred 
miles,  from  near  Cape  May  to  Shrewsbury  and 
Shark  River.  His  position  as  an  Indian  mission- 
ary was  very  trying :  he  loved  his  Indians  too  well 
to  leave  them.  But  they  were  too  few  to  justify 
the  entire  appropriation  of  his  time  and  energies. 
He  clings  to  them,  but  at  the  same  time,  with 
apostolic  fervor  and  benevolence,  travels  far  and 
wide  along  the  coast  and  among  the  Pines  to  give 
the  gospel,  gratuitously  almost,  to  the  destitute 
whites.  How  much  they  needed  reformation, 
those  who  have  read  the  history  of  the  " Piners" 
in  New  Jersey  will  understand. 

1766. 

We  glean  from  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  this 
year  a  pretty  definite  idea  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  salary 
at  this  period  of  his  hardest  and  most  self-denying 
labor.  The  Synod  say : — 

"Mr.  Brainerd  is  appointed  to  receive  the  money  in 
the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College  for 
Indian  affairs  for  the  current  year,  as  an  addition  to  his 
salary." 

And  again : — 

"From  last  year's  minutes,  some  affairs  respecting  Mr. 
Brainerd's  mission  to  the  Indians,  with  some  papers  now 


360  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

received  from  him,  were  taken  under  consideration ;  and 
it  is  ordered  that  what  moneys  have  been  collected  last 
year  for  this  mission  be  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Treat, 
jun.,  an  account  of  which  he  is  desired  to  give  the  Synod 
to-morrow." 

Once  more: — 

"The  Synod  resolves  to  support  the  Indian  school  under 
Mr.  Brainerd's  care,  and  for  that  purpose  order  such  mem- 
bers as  have  not  this  last  year  made  collections  immediately 
to  collect,  and  transmit  to  the  hands  of  Mr.  Joseph  Treat 
or  Mr.  Ewing,  to  be  paid  to  Mr.  Brainerd ;  and  that  the 
money  now  in  Mr.  Treat's  hands  be  paid  to  Mr.  Brainerd 
as  soon  as  possible,  which  sum  appears  to  be  twenty-one 
pounds,  sixteen  shillings,  and  one  penny." 

According  to  this,  the  salary  of  Mr.  Brainerd 
consisted  of  twenty  pounds  from  the  interest  at 
Princeton,  and  twenty-one  pounds,  sixteen  shil- 
lings, and  one  penny, — making  in  all  a  little  over 
forty  pounds,  with  two  or  three  pounds'  addition 
by  Mr.  Ewing;  and  this,  with  all  his  extra  ex- 
penses lor  his  Indians,  all  his  journeys  to  meet 
missionaries,  and  all  his  domestic  missionary  la- 
bors in  a  field  so  obscure,  so  wide,  and  so  poor 
that  when  he  died  his  churches  decayed,  and  no 
Presbyterian  minister  rose  to  follow  him  for  near 
a  hundred  years.  Truly  he  waged  a  warfare  at 
his  own  charges.  The  Synod  had  some  sympathy 
for  him,  as  they  this  year  say: — 

"Mr.  Brush  is  appointed  to  assist  Mr.  Brainerd  in  sup- 
plying the  vacancy  in  his  neighborhood." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  361 

The  following  letter  to  Dr.  Wheelock  shows 
that  Mr.  Brainerd's  anxiety  in  sending  his  young 
Indians  to  a  distant  school  was  not  groundless. 
We  read  such  a  letter  with  sorrow : — 

FORKS  or  EGG  HARBOR,  February  26,  1766. 
REV'D    AND    VERY    DEAR    SlR  I 

I  received  a  letter  from  you  some  time  this  winter 
which  I  had  not  opportunity  to  answer,  and  so,  as  is  too 
common  in  more  important  matters,  deferred  preparing 
until  an  opportunity  should  present  to  reply ;  and  now  I 
hear  of  a  vessel  designed  for  New  London  in  about  a 
fortnight,  but  am  on  a  journey  and  can  say  but  a  few 
things. 

I  was  grieved  to  hear  such  an  account  about  poor,  un- 
happy Enoch.  His  mother,  who  is  a  calm,  Christian 
woman,  was,  indeed,  very  much  hurt,  but  behaved  under 
it  as  became  her  character;  but  his  father  used  me  ill, 
and  charged  me  with  what  had  befallen  his  son.  I  was 
obliged  to  give  him  a  good  setting  down,  and  soon 
quieted  him,  so  that  in  a  few  minutes  he  was  very  hum- 
ble, and  begged  me  to  write,  and  he  would  go  to  New 
England  and  look  for  his  son.  I  discouraged  that,  as  it 
was  a  bad  season  in  the  year  and  he  a  drunken  fellow, 
telling  him  I  would  write  to  Mr.  Wheelock.  If  there- 
fore, dear  sir,  you  can  be  any  way  instrumental  in  get- 
ting him  home  to  his  parents,  it  will,  I  think,  be  the  best 
thing  that  can  now  be  done.  I  am  very  much  grieved 
for  the  trouble  you  have  already  had  with  him ;  I  could 
wish  a  hundred  times  he  had  never  gone  a  step  that  way. 
Pray,  sir,  if  you  can  hear  any  thing  of  him  at  Rhode 
Island  or  elsewhere,  let  him  know  that  his  parents  would 
have  him  come  home,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 

SI* 


362  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Where  is  Jacob  Woolley?  I  have  not  heard  a  word 
of  him  since  I  was  at  your  house.  I  wish  I  could  get  a 
sight  of  him, — poor,  unhappy  youth ! 

Some  of  our  Indians  behave  better  of  late  than  they 
did. 

Where  is  Josey  Woolley  ?  and  how  does  he  manage  ? 
Where  is  Mr.  Smith  ?  and  what  encouragement  has  he  ? 

And,  above  all,  how  does  your  poor  school  live?  I 
am  sorry  from  my  heart  I  can  do  nothing  but  say:  "Be 
ye  warmed." 

Where  is  Mr.  Whitaker  ?  I  never  heard  whether  he 
went  to  England. 

In  haste. 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Yours  most  cordially, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  363 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SCHOOLMASTER  PAID — BEATTY  AND  DUFFIELD'S  TOUR  AND  JOURNAL 
— CONGREGATIONS  TROUBLED  BY  SNAKES — FORT  PITT,  AND  LABORS 
THERE — SUCCESS  AMONG  THE  INDIANS — MR.  BRAINERD  AND  HIS  IN- 
DIANS URGED  TO  MIGRATE  TO  OHIO — THE  INDIANS  REPLY  IN  THE 
NEGATIVE. 

1767-68. 

E  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  begins 
to  be  more  considerate  of  its  first  foreign  and 
domestic  missionary.     It  says: — 

"  The  affairs  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  school  came  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  the  Synod  agree  to  allow  Mr.  Brainerd  the 
sum  of  thirty  pounds  per  year  for  the  last  three  years  for 
defraying  the  expenses  of  the  Indian  school,  which  sum 
he  acknowledges  he  has  already  in  his  hands. 

"  And  it  is  further  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Brainerd  the 
sum  of  thirty  pounds  for  the  support  of  the  Indian  school 
for  the  current  year,  and  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  as  an 
addition  to  his  salary  for  bis  extraordinary  services  in  form- 
ing societies  and  laboring  among  the  white  people  in  that 
large  and  uncultivated  country."  * 

As  if  his  labors  were  not  sufficient,  they  impose, 
no  doubt  with  his  consent,  new  responsibilities. 
In  1766,  the  Synod  had  appointed  Messrs.  Duf- 

*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  371,  275. 


364  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

field  and  Beatty  to  go  together  the  first  of  August, 
and  preach  at  least  two  months  among  the  desti- 
tute on  the  frontiers  of  the  province.  These  gen- 
tlemen went  accordingly,  and  a  report  of  their  tour 
was  published  in  1768,  drawn  up  mainly  by  Dr. 
Beatty.*  In  their  report  to  Synod  in  1767,  they 
say: — 

"That  they  performed  their  mission  to  the  frontiers 
and  among  the  Indians.  That  they  found  on  the  fron- 
tiers numbers  of  people  earnestly  desirous  of  forming 
themselves  into  congregations,  and  declaring  their  will- 
ingness to  exert  their  utmost  in  order  to  have  the  gospel 
among  them,  but  in  circumstances  exceedingly  distress- 
ing and  necessitous  from  the  late  calamities  of  the  war 
in  these  parts;  and,  also,  that  they  visited  the  Indians  at 
the  chief  town  of  the  Delaware  nation  on  the  Muskin- 
gum,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  beyond  Fort 
Pitt,  and  were  received  much  more  cheerfully  than  they 
could  have  expected.  That  a  considerable  number  of 
them  waited  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  with  pecu- 
liar attention, — many  of  them  appearing  solemnly  con- 
cerned about  the  great  matters  of  religion ;  that  they  ex- 
pressed an  ardent  desire  of  having  further  opportunities 
of  hearing  those  things;  that  they  informed  them  that 
several  other  tribes  of  Indians  around  them  were  ready 
to  join  them  in  receiving  the  gospel,  and  earnestly  de- 
siring an  opportunity.  Upon  the  whole,  that  there  does 
appear  a  very  agreeable  prospect  of  a  door  opening  for 

*  "The  Journal  of  a  Two  Months'  Tour  with  a  View  of  Promoting 
Religion  among  the  Frontier  Inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of 
Introducing  Christianity  among  the  Indians  to  the  westward  of  the 
Alleghgeny  Mountains.  By  Charles  Beatty,  A.M.  London,  1768." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  365 

the   gospel   being  spread   among   those   poor,  benighted, 
savage  tribes." 

The  Synod  in  1767  appointed 

"The  Rev«  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  to  pay  a 
visit  to  our  frontier  settlements  and  Indians  on  Mus- 
kingum  and  other  places,  and  tarry  with  them  at  least 
three  months  this  summer,  provided  the  report  brought 
back  by  the  Indian  interpreter  Joseph  from  them,  and 
delivered  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alison  and  Messrs.  Treat, 
Beatty,  and  Ewing,  proves  encouraging;  which  gentle- 
men are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  to  receive  and 
judge  of  said  report. 

"  Ordered,  also,  that  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  take 
no  money  from  the  frontier  settlements  for  their  ministe- 
rial labors  among  them. 

"  Ordered,  that  Mr.  McKnight  supply  Mr.  Brainerd's 
place  among  the  Indians  and  at  Mount  Holly  the  second, 
third,  and  fourth  Sabbaths  of  July,  and  that  Mr.  William 
Tennent  serve  Mr.  McKnight  with  a  copy  of  this  mi- 
nute." 

We  have  procured  Mr.  Beatty's  journal  from 
London.  In  their  journey  outward,  leaving  Car- 
lisle August  16,  they  threaded  the  water-courses 
among  the  mountains,  and  preached  wherever 
they  found  straggling  settlers  in  the  valleys.  It 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  follow  them  on  the  Juni- 
ata,  and  fix  their  stations.*  All  was  rude  and 

*  Above  the  present  Lewistown  on  the  Juniata,  Mr.  Beatty  records 
the  following  scene:  "While  the  people  were  convening,  it  began  to 
rain,  and  the  rain  continuing  obliged  as  many  as  could  to  crowd  into 


366  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

wild  in  their  way.     They  reached  Fort  Pitt  on 
September  6,  in  twenty-five  days  from  Carlisle. 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  McLagan,  chaplain  of  the  garrison, 
with  other  gentlemen  of  the  place,  furnished  them  with 
blankets  to  sleep  in,  and  some  other  necessaries,  so  that 
they  fared  as  well  as  they  could  expect." 

Their  expectations  from  Pittsburgh  at  that  time 
seem  to  have  been  very  moderate.  They  preached 
on  the  Sabbath  "to  the  garrison,  and  the  people, 
who  live  in  some  kind  of  a  town  without  the  fort," 
the  first  sermons  ever  preached  in  Pittsburgh,  ex- 
cept by  army  chaplains. 

September  10,  they  left  for  Keahlampaga,  the 
residence  of  the  King  of  the  Delawares,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  miles  distant,  and  reached  his 
place,  near  Zanesville,  on  the  18th.  Being  cor- 
dially received  by  the  king,  they  delivered  an  ad- 
dress. Among  other  things,  they  gave  him: — 

"  First,  a  message  from  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort 
Pitt,  informing  that  their  fathers,  the  English^  concerned 
for  them  and  pitying  their  state  of  ignorance,  sent  now 
two  ministers  to  ask  them  whether  they  would  embrace 
the  Christian  religion,  that  they  might  see  clearly  as  we 

a  small  house.  While  I  was  preaching,  and  the  people  were  very 
attentive,  we  were  alarmed  by  a  rattlesnake  creeping  into  the  house, 
it  being  pretty  open;  but  this  venomous  creature  was  happily  disco- 
vered and  killed  before  it  did  any  damage.  Scarcely  were  the  people 
well  composed  again,  before  we  were  alarmed  anew  by  a  snake  of  an- 
other kind  being  discovered  among  the  people,  which  was  also  killed 
without  any  detriment  besides  disturbing  us." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRA1NERD.  367 

do,  and  that  the  evil  spirit  might  not  tempt  them  any 
more  to  what  is  wrong;  that  he  expected  they  would 
treat  these  men,  sent  them  on  such  a  good  errand,  well, 
and  send  their  young  men  to  hunt  for  them  and  bring 
them  back  safe  to  the  fort,  and  that  he  wished  they 
would  put  in  execution  what  their  agent  and  he  at  the 
last  treaty  had  invited  them  to  do,  namely,  to  return 
back  to  their  old  towns  and  there  live,  that  they  might 
be  nearer  their  brethren  the  English^  who  might  more 
easily  send  ministers  to  teach  them.  Secondly,  we  told 
them  that,  some  years  ago,  our  Great  Council  (for  such 
we  called  our  Synod),  who  met  from  different  provinces 
once  a  year  to  consult  about  religion,  did  appoint  two 
of  their  number  to  come  out  to  speak  to  them  about  the 
great  things  of  religion  ;*  but  that  the  war  breaking  out 
stopped  up  the  path  and  thereby  prevented  their  coming, 
for  which  we  were  very  sorry,  and  therefore  prayed  ear- 
nestly to  the  great  God  that  the  war,  so  hurtful  to  them 
and  us,  might  come  to  an  end  and  peace  again  be  re- 
stored; that  now  the  great  God  had  granted  our  request." 

They  gave  a  string  of  wampum  with  their  mes- 
sage. Mr.  Beatty  continues : — 

"In  the  evening,  Tepis-cow-a-hang  and  his  sister,  both 
advanced  in  years,  came  to  our  house,  who  both  had  for- 
merly been  in  New  Jersey  at  the  time  of  the  revival  of 

*  "Referring  to  Mr.  John  Brainerd  and  myself  [Beatty],  who  were 
appointed  by  the  Synod  to  visit  them ;  but  as  we  were  preparing  for 
our  journey,  the  last  war  broke  out.  Had  we  been  among  the  In- 
dians at  that  juncture,  we  had  probably  either  suffered  death  or  cap- 
tivity ;  and  therefore  it  appears  a  very  kind  interposition  of  Provi- 
dence that  we  were  not  set  out  on  our  mission." — Bcatty's  Journal, 
pp.  45,  4fi,  47,  49. 


368  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

religion  among  the  Indians  there,  and  had  received  some 
good  impressions  under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  David  Brain- 
erd.  They  desired  us  to  talk  to  them  about  religion, 
which  I  did  some  time  by  the  interpreter,  particularly 
concerning  backsliding,  and  pointed  out  to  them  in  the 
plainest  manner  I  could  how  they  should  come  to  God 
again  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  * 

The  next  day  the  Indians  responded  to  the  ad- 
dress; they  said: — 

"Our  dear  brothers,  what  you  have  said  we  are  very 
well  pleased  with,  as  far  as  we  can  understand  it;  but, 
dear  brothers,  when  William  Johnson  spoke  with  us 
some  time  ago,  and  made  a  peace  which  is  to  be  strong 
and  forever,  he  told  us  we  must  not  regard  what  any 
other  might  say  to  us ;  that  though  a  great  many  people 
all  round  about  might  be  speaking  a  great  many  things, 
yet  we  must  look  upon  all  these  things  only  as  when  a 
dog  sleeps,  and  he  dreams  of  something,  or  something  dis- 
turbs him,  and  he  rises  hastily  and  gives  a  bark  or  two, 
but  does  not  know  any  thing  or  any  proper  reason  why 
he  barks :  and  just  so  the  people  all  round  that  may  be 
saying  some  one  thing,  and  some  another,  are  to  be  no 
more  regarded,  and  therefore  they  cannot  understand  or 
hear  any  in  any  other  way." 

Messrs.  Beatty  and  Duffield  stayed  ten  days,  and 
thought  that  nearly  forty-seven  Indians  had  some 
"considerable  impression  made  on  their  minds  by 
their  preaching."  They  left  with  light  hearts  and 

*  Beatty's  Journal,  pp.  45,  46,  52. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD,  369 

their  hopes  elevated  by  the  success  of  their  mis- 
sion.* 

One  incident  of  their  mission  had  a  special  refer- 
ence to  Mr.  Brainerd  and  his  Indians  at  Brother- 
ton.  On  the  Sabbath,  September  21 : — 

"  About  four  o'clock  two  of  the  council  returned,  and 
gave  our  interpreter  Joseph  a  belt  of  wampum  with  a 
speech,  the  purport  of  which  was  to  invite  the  Christian 
Indians  in  New  "Jersey,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
John  Brainerd,  to  come  to  Qui-a-ha-ga,f  a  town  the 
king  and  some  of  his  people  here  had  lived  in,  about 
seventy  miles  northwest  of  this  place,  where,  as  they 
said,  there  was  good  hunting,  and  where  they  might 
have  a  minister  with  them ;  and  all  the  Indians  who  de- 
sired to  hear  the  gospel,  as  they  gave  us  to  understand 
there  was  a  number  of  such,  might  then  go  and  settle 
with  them." 

This  invitation  Messrs.  Beatty  and  Duffield  re- 
ported to  Mr.  Brainerd's  Indian  congregation. 
Their  response  was  as  follows,  reported  by  Mr. 
Beatty  : — J 

*  Mr.  Beatty  was  credulous.  He  records  with  confidence  the  state- 
ment of  a  white  man  found  among  the  Indians,  "that  he  had  visited 
a  tribe  who  spoke  Welsh,  and  had  a  book  in  that  language."  Mr. 
Beatty  also  tells  a  story  of  a  captive  Welshman  about  to  be  put  to 
death  by  the  Indians,  who  saved  his  life  by  praying  in  Welsh  at  the 
stake.  The  Indians  understood  him,  and  let  him  go. — See  Beatty's 
Journal,  p.  24. 

f  Probably  an  Indian  town  on  Cuyahoga  River,  near  the  present 
villages  of  Alton  or  Cuyahoga  Falls,  or  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
where  Cleveland  is  built. 

J  Beatty'b  Jdurnal,  p.  93. 

32 


370  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

"  A  copy  of  a  Letter  from  the  Christian  Indians  under  the 
care  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  in  New  Jersey ,  to  their 
brethren  the  Delaware  tribes  to  the  westward  of  Alle- 
ghgeny  River,  in  answer  to  a  message  and  invitation  sent 
by  Joseph,  our  interpreter,  to  go  back  and  settle  among 
them  (dated  February,  1767),  which  message,  etc.  is  men- 
tioned in  this  journal. 

"To  the  Chief  of  the  Delaware  Tribes  of  Indians,  and 
all  that  reside  at  Ke-la-mip-pa-ching,  on  the  other  side 
of  Alleghgeny. 

"BROTHERS: — 

"You  sent  us  a  message  by  our  friend  Joseph  Peepy, 
with  a  belt  of  wampum,  which  we  have  returned  by  him, 
according  to  your  order,  with  these  strings,  which  he  will 
deliver  to  you  at  a  proper  time. 

"  Brothers,  you  tell  us  we  sit  near  a  great  water,  where 
we  are  in  danger  of  being  drowned ;  and  you  take  us  by 
the  hand  and  lead  us,  and  set  us  down  at  Qui-a-ha-ga, 
where  we  may  have  good  land,  hunting  and  fishing,  and 
where  we  may  sit  down  quietly  and  worship  God. 

"  Brothers,  we  thank  you  in  our  hearts  that  you  take 
so  much  care  of  us,  and  so  kindly  invite  us  to  come  to 
you ;  but  we  are  obliged  to  tell  you  that  we  do  not  see 
at  present  how  we  can  remove  with  our  old  people,  our 
wives,  and  our  children,  because  we  are  not  able  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  moving  so  far,  and  our  brothers,  the  Eng- 
lish, have  taken  us  into  their  arms  as  fathers  take  their 
children,  and  we  do  not  think  we  ought  to  go  without 
their  consent,  and  indeed  we  cannot  go  without  their 
assistance  and  protection.  We  have  here  a  good  house 
for  the  worship  of  God,  another  for  our  children  to  go 
to  school  in,  besides  our  dwelling-houses  and  many  com- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  371 

fortable  accommodations, — all  which  we  shall  lose  if  we 
remove. 

"We  have  also  a  minister  of  Christ  to  instruct  us  in 
all  our  spiritual  concerns  and  lead  us  to  heaven  and  hap- 
piness, which  are  of  more  worth  to  us  than  all  the  rest. 
Now,  whenever  these  difficulties  can  be  taken  out  of  our 
way,  we  shall  cheerfully  embrace  your  kind,  friendly  offer ; 
in  the  mean  time  we  desire  the  path  between  you  and  us 
may  be  kept  open,  and  hope  that  some  of  us  shall  be  able 
soon  to  make  you  a  visit. 

"  Brothers,  you  tell  us  you  behold  us  from  a  great  dis- 
tance at  our  devotions,  and  desire  to  join  us. 

"  Brothers,  we  are  very  glad  you  have  such  good  de- 
sires :  certainly  the  Great  Spirit  above  has  given  you  these 
desires.  We  also  should  be  very  glad  to  have  you  with 
us  in  our  holy  devotions ;  but  our  land  here  is  so  narrow 
that  we  cannot  expect  you  will  leave  your  wide,  rich 
country  and  come  to  us,  but  we  rather  think  that,  after 
some  time,  we  may  be  able  to  order  things  so  here  as 
that  a  number  of  us  may  come  to  you,  if  not  all. 

"  Brothers,  you  tell  us  you  wonder  none  of  us  have 
been  so  kind  as  to  make  you  a  visit  and  inform  you  what 
we  have  met  with,  and  desire  we  would  now  tell  you. 

"Brothers,  we  have  not  been  altogether  negligent  in 
this  matter.  Some  of  us  have  gone  several  times  to 
Wyoming  and  other  parts  of  Susquehanna  to  inform  our 
brothers  there  of  the  good  things  which  the  Lord  has 
made  known  to  us ;  and  some  of  us  who  were  at  Lan- 
caster with  our  minister,  when  the  last  Council-fire  was 
kindled  there,  would  gladly  have  informed  all  the  Indians 
thereof  what  we  had  learned  about  the  Christian  way,  and 
now  also  we  are  cheerfully  willing,  with  all  our  hearts,  to 
let  you  know  what  we  have  found  and  met  with. 

"  Brothers,  we  have  learned  the  whole  of  our  duty. 


372  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

We  know  what  will  please  God,  and  what  will  displease 
him;  what  will  bring  us  to  happiness,  and  what  will 
make  us  miserable;  and  so  now,  if  we  are  not  forever 
happy,  it  will  be  our  own  faults.  But,  alas !  though  we 
know  all  this,  we  are  not  so  good  as  we  should  be.  We 
have  also  learned  to  pray,  sing  psalms,  and  some  of  us 
can  read  and  write. 

"  Brothers,  what  we  have  now  told  you  of  is  the  sub- 
stance of  what  we  have  learned;  but  we  cannot  on  this 
little  piece  of  paper  tell  you  every  thing  particularly. 

"  Brothers,  you  tell  us  you  desire  we  should  come, 
that  we  might  teach  you  the  Christian  way,  and  how 
you  also  may  come  to  be  happy. 

"  Brothers,  we  wish  to  do  this  with  all  our  hearts,  so 
far  as  it  is  in  our  power,  and  are  sorry  you  are  so  far 
from  us. 

"Brothers,  we  have  learned  many  good  things,  it  is 
true,  and  should  be  very  glad  to  see  you  and  talk  with 
you  as  brethren ;  and  some  of  us  might  teach  you  to  sing 
psalms,  and  to  read  and  to  write,  but  are  not  fit  to  be 
ministers,  nor  are  we  called  to  that  high  office.  Minis- 
ters are  men  that  the  great  God  calls  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel, and  to  teach  mankind  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved.  And  when  they  preach,  they  speak  in  God's 
name :  from  such  we  received  the  gospel,  and  all  other 
heathen  people  that  have  been  made  Christians  have 
been  made  so  by  the  preaching  of  God's  ministers.  Two 
such  men,  we  are  informed,  you  had  with  you  last  sum- 
mer; and  we  do  not  doubt  that,  if  you  desire  it,  they  or 
some  others  will  visit  you  again,  at  which  we  shall  very 
much  rejoice. 

"Brothers,  we  have  heard  our  minister  say  he  has  a 
great  concern  for  you ;  and  though  we  always  want  him 
at  home,  yet  we  should  be  willing  to  part  with  him  a 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  373 

while  that  he  might  teach  you  and  do  you  good,  as  he 
has  done  us.  He  has  lived  with  us  many  years,  and  we 
know  him  to  be  a  good  friend  to  the  Indians  and  that  he 
seeks  their  best  good. 

"  Brothers,  we  wish  you  all  good  ;  that  you  may  have 
good  ministers  to  take  you  gently  by  the  hand,  and  lead 
you  safe  to  heaven  and  happiness.  And,  that  you  might 
obtain  this  great  good,  we  think  it  might  be  well  for  you 
to  speak  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  who,  you  know,  is  the 
person  the  great  king  George  has  appointed  to  speak  to 
the  Indians,  and  we  do  not  doubt  he  would  be  willing  to 
help  you.  He  might  also,  perhaps,  so  order  matters  that 
we,  after  some  time,  might  remove  to  you  and  be  very 
happy  in  your  country. 

"  Brothers,  we  desire  to  commit  you  and  all  that  con- 
cerns you  and  us  to  the  great  God,  who  made  all  things. 
"We  pray  that  he  would  take  you  under  his  particular 
care,  and  that  you  and  we  may  so  know  him  and  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ  as  that  we  may  meet  in  heaven  and  be  happy 
with  him  for  evermore. 

"We  are  your  sincere  friends 

and  loving  brothers, 

"(Signed)  THOMAS  STORE, 

JOSEPH  MEECHY, 
STEPHEN  CALVIN, 
ISAAC  STILL, 
JACOB  STAKET." 

Who  can  read  this  letter  without  emotion? 
Thomas  Store  and  Stephen  Calvin  were  the  fathers 
of  children  sent  to  Dr.  Wheelock.  This  mission 
of  Messrs.  Duffield  and  Beatty  to  the  Muskingum, 
and  the  invitation  of  the  Indians  to  Mr.  Brainerd's 

32* 


374  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

congregation,  no  doubt  led  to  the  appointment  of 
Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  to  go  West  in  1767. 
They  failed  to  go.  The  Synodv  in  1768,  says: — 

uThe  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  the  affair  of  the 
Indian  school  under  the  inspection  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brainerd,  and  it  appears  from  Mr.  Brainerd's  report  that 
there  is  still  a  school  existing  among  the  Indians  under 
his  care;  and  this  Synod  do  agree  to  continue  to  support 
said  school,  and  do  appoint  the  usual  salary  of  thirty 
pounds  to  be  paid  to  Mr.  Brainerd  for  the  ensuing  year ; 
and  do  order  the  clerk  of  the  Synod  to  give  an  order  for 
that  sum  on  the  Synodical  treasurer.  It  is  further  agreed 
to  allow  Mr.  Brainerd  twenty  pounds  as  an  addition  to  his 
salary  for  his  extensive  services  and  labor  in  those  uncul- 
tivated parts,  and  that  the  clerk  also  give  an  order  to  Mr. 
Brainerd  on  the  Synodical  treasurer  for  this  purpose. 

"The  Synod  do  also  appoint  Mr.  Brainerd  to  receive 
for  the  current  year  the  sum  of  eighteen  pounds,  being 
the  interest  of  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer 
of  New  Jersey  College,  appointed  to  support  an  Indian 
mission. 

"  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  report,  that  they  did 
not  execute  their  mission  among  the  Indians  on  the 
Muskingum  and  other  parts,  as  ordered  at  Synod,  by 
reason  of  the  discouraging  accounts  brought  in  by  the 
interpreter  Joseph,  sent  out  as  mentioned  in  our  last 
year's  minutes,  and  other  discouraging  circumstances; 
and,  as  it  appears  that  Mr.  Brainerd  had  occasion  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  sending  an  Indian  to  prepare  the  way  for 
his  intended  mission,  therefore  the  Synod  do  agree  to  pay 
the  sum  of  five  pounds  to  discharge  said  expense. 

"  Ordered,  that  the  Synodical  treasurer  pay  said  sum."  * 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  380. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  375 

Dissatisfied  with  the  hitherto  loose  manner  of 
conducting  missions,  the  Synod  this  year  appointed 
a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Brainerd  was  one,  "  to 
draw  up  a  plan"  and  report  next  year.  This  was 
a  prelude  to  those  modern  mission  boards  and  so- 
cieties which  have  long  been  the  order  of  the  day. 
As^a  Church,  Presbyterians  were  early  in  the  field 
of  missions. 

It  is  believed  that  about  this  period  Mr.  Brain- 
erd left  his  Indian  home  in  Brotherton,  and  re- 
moved to  Bridgetown  (now  Mount  Holly),  a  village 
seven  miles  from  Burlington  and  fifteen  from  his 
former  residence. 

The  Synod  in  1767  appointed  Mr.  McKnight  to 
supply  Mr.  Brainerd' s  place  among  the  Indians 
and  at  Mount  Holly.  It  seems  that  he  then  had, 
in  addition  to  his  great  domestic  missionary  field 
along  the  shore  and  his  Indian  charge,  a  congre- 
gation at  Mount  Holly  (or  Bridgetown) ;  and  thither 
he  removed  in  1768. 

His  reasons  he  does  not  give  for  the  removal; 
perhaps  he  was  driven  there  by  pecuniary  necessity 
or  failing  health.  At  Mount  Holly  he  was  near 
two  of  his  stations,  Rancocas  and  Quakertown,  now 
Vincenttown. 

Located  at  Mount  Holly,  where  he  gathered  a 
congregation  and  built  a  church,  he  purchased 
property  near  his  church-edifice,  and  erected  a 
dwelling  and  a  schoolhouse.  We  have  seen  the 
deeds  of  this  property,  which  is  now  the  site  of 


376  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR Al NERD. 

a  modern  church  in  Mount  Holly,  situated  on 
"Brainerd"  Street.  The  late  venerable  John  Mc- 
Dowell, D.D.,  of  this  city,  in  the  reorganization  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Mount  Holly,  October 
27,  1839,  alluded  feelingly  to  the  early  church 
planted  there  by  John  Brainerd,  but  which  had 
been  left  to  die  out.  From  the  doctor's  manu- 
script, kindly  furnished  us  by  him  shortly  before 
his  death,  we  make  an  extract.  He  said: — 

"Brethren,  this  was  anciently  Presbyterian  ground, 
and  we  are  about  to-day  not  to  introduce  something  be- 
fore unknown  in  this  place,  but  to  restore  that  which 
long  since  existed  and  probably  flourished  among  you, 
but  which  has  fallen  into  decay.  A  Presbyterian  church 
existed  in  this  place  for  many  years  in  the  last  century, 
and  for  a  time  enjoyed  the  ministerial  and  pastoral  labors 
of  that  eminently  pious  and  devoted  servant  of  God,  the 
Rev.  John  Brainerd,  as  I  have  learned  from  a  respectable 
and  aged  citizen  of  this  place,  of  another  denomination, 
since  my  arrival  here.  Mr.  Brainerd  preached  between 
twenty  and  thirty  years,  and  was  much  beloved,  and  was 
instrumental  in  doing  much  good  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  place,  and  also  among  a  tribe  of  Indians  in 
the  neighborhood. 

"Mr.  Brainerd  died  about  sixty  years  since,  in  1781, 
in  Deerfield,  in  Cumberland  county,  whither  he  removed. 
During  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  house  of  worship, 
which  was  then  situated  on  your  graveyard,  was  torn 
down  by  the  British  soldiers.  After  that,  I  understand, 
for  some  time  the  congregation  had  occasional  preaching 
in  private  houses  ;  but  by  degrees  the  church  declined, 
until  it  became  extinct." 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  377 

We  shall  again  have  occasion  to  refer  to  this 
early  church  at  Mount  Holly ;  we  only  allude  to 
it  now  to  explain  the  date  of  the  following  letter: 

BRIDGETOWN  (MOUNT  HOLLY),  February  12,  1768. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

The  reason  of  my  inability  to  answer  your  letter  was, 
I  could  not  tell  what  assistance  I  should  want  of  you  for 
the  journey  to  the  Western  Indians.  The  provision  to 
be  made  here  was  uncertain,  and  depended  upon  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Corporation  for  the  Widows'  Fund,  who  have 
moneys  for  propagating  the  gospel.  That  corporation  sat 
some  time  after,  but  did  nothing  in  the  affair.  The  rea- 
son assigned  was,  "the  present  prospect  of  an  Indian 
War." 

This  melancholy  prospect  has  since  increased.  Ten 
of  the  Indians  have  been  cruelly  murdered  by  a  white 
man,  the  man  apprehended  and  confined  with  irons,  but 
soon  after  forcibly  taken  out  of  Carlisle  jail ;  all  which 
and  much  more  you  doubtless  have  seen  or  will  see  in 
the  public  papers. 

Besides  satisfaction  for  this  barbarous  outrage,  the  In- 
dians, I  am  told,  demand  three  things : — 

1.  That  all  the  white  people  be  removed  off  their  un- 
purchased  lands. 

2.  That   there  be  a  line  drawn  and  settled  between 
them  and  the  English. 

3.  That  the  blood  shed  by  the  murder  of  the  Indians 
some  years  ago  in  Lancaster  jail  be  wiped  off. 

I  am  also  informed  that  Sir  William  Johnson  has  writ- 
ten to  some  of  our  governors,  particularly  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, of  aggrievances  and  disturbances  among  the  Indians 
in  those  parts. 


378  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

While  things  are  in  this  sad  situation,  you  doubtless 
will  be  of  opinion  with  us  that  to  attempt  any  thing  of 
the  kind  before  proposed  would  be  very  imprudent. 

We  must  no  doubt  wait  a  more  favorable  opportunity, 
which  may  the  Lord  hasten,  though  I  something  scruple 
my  ever  embarking  in  it  again:  my  state  of  body  is  too 
weak  and  slender  for  such  fatigues. 

We  are  all  tolerably  well,  through  Divine  goodness, 
and  the  Indian  children's  parents,  etc.,  were  so  lately. 

The  Lord  smile  on  all  our  attempts  to  enlarge  the 
kingdom  of  his  dear  Son,  and  hasten  the  blissful  period 
when  he  shall  reign  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun. 

When  you  feel  well,  try  to  remember  us,  and  particu- 
larly, 

Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  very  affectionate 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — It  won't  do  for  Hezekiah*  to  be  anywhere  near 
his  father. 

To  the  Rev'd  Dr.  WHEELOCK. 

*  Hezekiah  Calvin,  the  son  of  Stephen  Calvin,  one  of  Mr.  Brain- 
erd's  Indian  elders  at  Brotherton.  We  shall  see  that  he  disappointed 
the  hopes  of  his  excellent  father :  when  at  home,  he  was  unreliable. 


LIFE    Of   JOHN  BRAINERD.  379 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

MR.  BRAINERD'S  SCHOOL — WHEELOCK'S  INDIAN  PUPILS  VERY  IMPER- 
FECT— MR.  BRAINERD  ASKS  A  COMMITTEE  OF  SYNOD  ON  HIS  MIS- 
SIONARY AFFAIRS — "FIFTY-NINE  POUNDS  FOB  FIVE  HUNDRED  SER- 
MONS." 

1769. 

fTlHOUGH  Mr.  Brainerd  had  only  reached  the 
-1-  age  of  forty-nine,  the  "shadows  of  the  even- 
ing" seemed  to  be  gathering  over  his  life.  He 
complains  more  of  ill  health;  he  is  less  prominent 
in  the  Synod;  he  is  sent  on  fewer  missions.  All 
his  health  and  time  and  energies  were  demanded 
by  the  great  field  of  his  personal  labor.  As  his 
hopes  failed  in  regard  to  giving  permanent  cha- 
racter and  prosperity  to  his  Indian  mission,  he 
seems  to  have  devoted  himself  entirely  to  founding 
churches  among  the  scattered  whites. 

The  Synod  this  year  appointed  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Drs.  Alison,  Witherspoon,  Rogers,  and 
Mr.  Brainerd,  to  see  if  a  plan  of  missions  could  be 
reported  next  year.  They  also  say : — 

"From  Mr.  Brainerd's  report  respecting  the  school 
under  his  inspection,  which  the  Synod  agreed  to  support, 
we  find  it  hath  not  been  kept  up  more  than  half  the  last 
year,  for  which  we  therefore  allow  him  fifteen  pounds, 


380  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

which  is  half  of  what  was  voted  last  year.  But,  as  he 
expects  he  shall  be  able  to  continue  that  school  the  cur- 
rent year,  having  provided  a  master  for  that  purpose, 
voted  that  he  be  allowed  thirty  pounds  for  the  support 
of  it. 

"Ordered,  also,  that  Mr.  Brainerd  shall  receive  for  the 
current  year  the  sum  of  eighteen  pounds,  being  the  inte- 
rest of  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  for  the  support  of  an  Indian  mis- 
sion, and  that  he  also  have  twenty  pounds  from  the  Sy- 
nodical  treasurer  for  the  continuance  of  his  labors  in  the 
year  past  in  those  desolate  parts  where  he  has  been  use- 
fully employed,  and  the  Synod  desire  Mr.  Brainerd  to 
supply  in  these  parts  as  formerly."  * 

t 

They  continued  him  on  the  Great  Committee 
to  meet,  on  the  14th  September,  at  New  Haven, 
in  the  Convention  of  Presbyterians  and  Congre- 
gationalists,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
measures  to  resist  the  inroads  of  Episcopal  autho- 
rity. He  was  in  an  obscure  field,  but  still  honored 
by  his  brethren. f  They  appointed  him  to  supply 
vacancies  at  Burlington,  Gloucester,  and  Cape  May 
counties. 


*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  0£g. 

f  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  one  of  his  novels,  makes  an  old  gray-haired 
butler,  who  had  been  in  the  family  forty  years,  affirm  that  his  gray 
head  was  an  emblem  of  both  his  and  his  master's  honors, — i.e..,  lie 
thought  it  honorable  to  himself  that  he  had  been  so  long  employed, 
and  honorable  to  his  master  that  he  had  the  discrimination  to  appre- 
ciate him. 

Mr.  Brainerd  might  have  said  this  to  the  members  of  the  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  Synod. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  381 

BRIDGETOWN  (MOUNT  HOLLY),  February  3,  1769. 
REV.    AND    DEAR    SlR : 

It  is  true  I  am  not  a  good  correspondent, — I  have 
neither  inclination  nor  facility  to  write  letters;  but  I 
think  I  have  a  friendly  heart,  and  sincerely  wish  pros- 
perity to  Zion  and  your  Indian  academy. 

Two  of  your  kind  letters  are  now  before  me :  one  by 
Miriam  Store,*  which  came  the  last  of  November,  the 
other  bearing  date  the  4th  of  July  last,  which  I  came 
across  in  a  journey  a  few  days  before.  Much  of  the 
contents  of  both  are  very  afflictive  to  me.  Is  it  so, 
then,  that  all  our  painful  labors  and  long-continued  ex- 
pense must  be  unspeakably  worse  than  lost?  I  could 
give  you  a  long  detail  of  baseness  and  ingratitude,  such 
as  I  did  not  think  could  exist  even  in  Indians  till  of  late. 
I  know  of  no  other  way  than  to  bear  every  thing  or  quit 
the  service. 

Dr.  Whitaker  gave  me  a  sad  account  of  Hezekiah,f 
which  was  grievous.  I  was  glad,  however,  of  an  inter- 
view with  him :  shall  always  think  myself  well  employed 
when  attempting  any  thing  for  the  promotion  of  your 
school.  Pray  draw  upon  me  often  that  way,  if  there  be 
occasion ;  I  shall  always  most  readily  answer  your  bills 
in  the  best  manner  I  can,  though  I  am  sensible  it  is  little 
I  can  do. 

I  yet  sometimes  feel  a  very  strong  bias  towards  Indian 
affairs,  notwithstanding  I  have  been  so  pitiably  used  by 
them.  Should  be  very  glad  of  an  interview  with  you, 
and  the  more  so  if  it  could  be  any  degree  of  comfort  to 
you  in  your  worn-out  state. 

*  The   Indian  girl  mentioned  already  as  sent  to  Dr.  Wheelock's 
school. 

f  Hezekiiih  Calvin. 

33 


382  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

Miriam  came  to  Bridgetown  with  a  heavy  heart ;  was 
there  some  time  before  my  return  from  a  journey.  Told 
Mrs.  Brainerd*  she  was  on  the  point  of  turning  back 
when  she  came  to  New^London,  and  even  after  she  got 
to  New  York.  Speaks  very  well  of  Dr.  Wheelock  and 
all  his  family,  etc. 

After  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  I  took  an  opportunity 
to  talk  with  her;  she  appeared  to  be  considerably  affected, 
but,  upon  the  whole,  did  not  discover  so  good  a  temper 
as  I  could  have  desired.  Her  behavior  since  her  return, 
as  far  as  I  know,  has  been  unexceptionable. 

I  have  not  been  able  yet  to  get  her  into  a  tailor's  shop 
as  a  journeywoman,  to  perfect  her  trade.  She  at  present 
does  house-work  with  a  serious,  religious  woman  in  this 
town,  and  is  well  liked.  I  return  you  very  many  thanks 
for  your  faithful  and  painful  care  of  her  and  the  rest. 
Her  poor  old  parents  were  overjoyed  to  see  her:  I  wish 
she  might  be  a  blessing  to  them.f 

I  told  Stephen  Calvin  about  his  son,  the  watch,  etc. 
I  know  not  what  he  intends  to  do:  he  did  not  desire  me 
to  write  any  thing  about  it. 

The  account  from  Oneida  is  very  comfortable:  may 
the  work  spread  far  and  wide,  and  Jesus  reign  in  all  that 
barbarous  world.  By  the  first  opportunity  please  to  give 
my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Kirkland,  and  congratulate  him 

*  About  nine  years  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife  (during  which 
time  his  only  companion  was  his  little  daughter  Mary),  Mr.  Brainerd 
married  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Price,  of  Philadelphia,  who  survived  him, 
and  died  in  1783.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  excellence  of  charac- 
ter,— not  only  a  good  wife  to  Mr.  Brainerd,  but  a  most  affectionate 
and  beloved  mother  to  his  only  daughter.  Of  her  family  relations 
we  have  no  knowledge. 

f  We  infer  that  Miriam  had  run  away  from  Dr.  Wheelock's  school 
and  returned  home.  She  seems  to  have  been  not  much  worse  than 
other  girls  of  her  age. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  383 

for  me.     The  Lord  comfort  his  heart  and  strengthen  his 
hand  abundantly. 

My  best  salutations  to  Mrs.  Wheelock,  in  which  Mrs. 
Brainerd  joins :    kind  love  to  your  son  and  family. 
Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BRIDGETOWN   (MOUNT  HOLLY),  June  22,  1769. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

Hezekiah  Calvin*  is  this  minute  come  into  my  house, 
on  his  way  to  New  England,  and  finds  me  just  returned 
from  a  journey  into  Pennsylvania.  He  has  behaved 
pretty  well,  for  any  thing  I  know,  since  he  has  been  in 
these  parts.  I  have  given  him  the  offer  of  the  school  if 
he  could  behave  steady  and  well :  he  talks  of  accepting 
the  offer  after  his  return  from  New  England.  Miriam 
Store  is  not  the  thing  I  want  her  to  be,  by  any  means. 

She  has,  however,  behaved  better  of  late  than  last 
winter.  I  am  greatly  distressed  often.  There  is  too 
much  truth  in  that  common  saying:  "Indians  will  be 
Indians."  I  am  at  present  very  poorly,  almost  worn 
out ;  have  neither  time  nor  strength  to  write.  Send  the 
most  cordial  salutations,  in  which  Mrs.  Brainerd  joins 
with, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  affectionate 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 


*  Hezekiah  Calvin  had  become  unsteady.     In  1766,  three  years 
before,   Dr.  Wheelock   said  of  him,   "he   is   a   sober,   well-behaved 
youth,  and  teaches  a  school  among  the  Mohawks.     He  is  a  good 
scholar  in  English,  Latin,  and  Greek,  and  writes  a  good  hand."- 
Whcdock 's  Narrative,  London,  1766. 


384  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BROTHERTON,  August  25,  1769. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  have  been  some  years  attempting  to  send  the  gospel 
to  Muskingum,  and  met  with  repeated  disappointments ; 
some  of  which  you  have  not  been  unacquainted  with. 

Two  years  ago  I  furnished  out  an  Indian  to  go  into 
their  country  and  carry  a  letter  to  Natotrohalament, 
chief  king  of  the  Delawares,  who  resides  at  Kalamapa- 
hung,  an  Indian  town  five  days'  journey  from  Fort  Pitt 
westward,  and  containing,  I  am  told,  about  one  hundred 
huts.  The  Indian  wholly  deceived  me,  spent  my  money 
another  way ;  afterwards  was  taken  sick,  and  never  went, 
nor  ever  returned  me  a  copper  of  the  expense. 

Some  time  last  month  there  was  one  to  visit  me  and 
the  Indians  here  from  those  parts.  He  appeared  to  be 
one  of  the  most  sincere,  modest  Indians  I  have  met  with 
for  a  long  time,  and,  to  all  appearances,  was  indeed  a 
pretty  fellow.  He  appeared  likewise  to  be  a  man  of  note 
among  the  Indians,  much  inclined  to  embrace  Christian- 
ity, and  bid  fair  to  be  an  instrument  of  introducing  it 
among  his  neighbors.  By  him  I  sent  another  letter  to 
the  king,  attended  with  wampum  as  before,  but  have 
lately  had  the  afflicting  news  of  his  being  murdered  by 
the  white  people  on  his  way  thither.  It  is  also  said  that 
murders  are  committed  by  the  Indians  on  some  of  the 
frontiers.  Sad,  indeed !  Alas !  that  there  should  be  so 
many  afflictions  to  that  which  is  of  so  much  importance. 

I  expected  the  above  Indian  here  again  next  spring, 
and  intended  in  the  mean  time  to  exert  myself  to  the 
uttermost  that  a  minister  and  schoolmaster  should  be 
provided  to  go  back  with  him,  and  had  some  thoughts, 
if  my  state  of  body  should  permit,  to  go  myself;  but 
now  I  know  not  what  to  do.  I  do  not  intend,  however, 
to  give  out  so,  and  beg  you  would  have  your  eye  out 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  385 

for  some  proper  persons  to  go  in  both  those  characters, 
and  let  me  know.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  above- 
mentioned  king  and  a  number  more  in  that  town  are 
friendly  to  Christianity. 

I  have  had  thoughts  of  attending  the  Convention  at 
New  Haven,  where  my  principal  business  would  have 
been  to  lay  some  foundation,  if  possible,  for  erecting  a 
mission  at  Kalamapahung ;  but  my  state  of  health  is 
low,  and  I  have  other  obstacles  in  the  way,  too:  this 
late  news  is  also  very  discouraging.  I  hope  you  will  be 
at  New  Haven,  and,  if  so,  every  thing  that  can  be  done 
will  be. 

I  want  to  hear  very  much  from  Mr.  Kirkland,  and 
what  prospects  there  still  are  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Miriam  Store  has  been  gone  several  months  from  us: 
I  hear  of  late  that  she  is  in  East  Jersey,  not  far  from 
where  the  Indians  formerly  lived. 

I  wish  I  could  write  more  comfortably  about  her. 
Hezekiah  is  gone  into  New  England :  I  send  you  a  few 
lines  by  him.  If  he  returns  and  behaves  well,  I  shall 
employ  him  in  the  school  here. 

My  best  salutations  wait  on  Mrs.  Wheelock. 
I  am,  reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  ever  affectionate 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Rev'd  Dr.  WHEELOCK. 

We  give,  to  fill  up  the  history  of  this  year,  the 
following  from  the  Scotch  Society : — 

Extract  from  Minutes  dated  Edinburgh,  February  1 6,  1769. 

"Letters  from  Mr.  Brainerd,  with  a  journal  of  his  pro- 
ceedings, and  from  the  Society's  Correspondents  at  New 
York,  being  read,  representing  Mr.  Brainerd's  diligence 

33* 


386  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

in  his  mission,  his  misfortune  in  having  expended  money 
for  erecting  and  furnishing  a  house  for  worship  and  for 
the  residence  of  a  missionary  upon  the  tract  of  land  pur- 
chased by  the  Government  for  the  Indians,  on  the  faith 
of  being  reimbursed  by  the  Government,  of  which  he 
was  and  is  likely  to  be  disappointed.  The  letters  further 
propose  that  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
be  appointed  Correspondents,  and  they  send  a  belt  of 
wampum  in  a  present  to  the  Society  from  the  Oneida 
Indians. 

"  Ordered,  that  letters  be  wrote  acquainting  the  Cor- 
respondents that  as  to  Mr.  Brainerd,  though  the  Society 
are  very  much  pleased  with  the  diligence  shown  in  his 
journal  of  his  proceedings,  and  sincerely  regret  the  ex- 
pense of  money  he  has  been  at,  yet  their  funds  cannot 
admit  to  reimburse  him  at  this  time.  They  wish  he 
would  represent  the  matter  either  to  Governor  Bernard 
himself,  who  pledged  his  faith  for  his  reimbursement,  or 
to  the  present  Governor  of  the  Province ;  and  are  hope- 
ful in  that  way  he  may  still  obtain  redress."* 

1770-71. 

The  Synod  appointed  a  committee  to  visit  Mr. 
Brainerd' s  school,  with  power  to  draw  on  the 
treasurer  "for  such  moneys  as  the  exigencies  of 
the  school  might  require,  and  report  to  the  next 
Synod;"  and  voted  "twenty  pounds  for  the  con  - 

*  "The  Minutes  of  the  General  Meeting  of  the  Society  for  Propa- 
gating Christian  Knowledge,  so  far  as  concerns  their  proceedings 
with  regard  to  their  Foreign  affairs,  end  here. 

"DAVID    W.  MOREIS, 

"Librarian  p.  t.  to  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

"EDINBURGH,  1862." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  387 

tinuance  of  his  labors  the  ensuing  year  in  those 
desolate  parts  where  he  has  been  so  successfully 
employed."  Twenty  pounds  for  supplying  seven 
or  eight  stations ! — all  they  had  to  give ;  but  how 
much  less  than  he  required! 

He  was  again  sent  to  the  "Convention"  at 
Elizabethtown,  but  otherwise  is  not  mentioned  in 
the  records  of  1770.  We  have  no  details  of  the 
year's  trials  and  labors. 

May  20,  1771,  the  records  say: — 

"Mr.  Brainerd  reports  that  he  has  under  his  care  an 
Indian  school  since  the  24th  of  December,  which  he 
expects  to  continue  through  the  summer,  and  possibly 
through  the  winter  also. 

"Ordered,  that  the  Treasurer  for  the  Synod  pay  Mr. 
Brainerd  fifteen  pounds  for  the  half-year  which  shall  end 
the  24th  of  June.  And  Dr.  Alison,  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
Messrs.  Ewing,  Sproat,  Treat,  and  Beatty,  are  appointed 
a  committee,  who  are  to  meet  the  last  Wednesday  of 
August  at  ten  o'clock,  who  shall  visit  the  school  and 
judge  whether  it  shall  be  continued  the  winter  half-year; 
and,  if  it  appears  to  them  that  the  school  has  been  con- 
tinued through  the  summer,  that  they  may  draw  upon  the 
treasurer  for  fifteen  pounds  more,  and  then  determine 
whether  it  is  expedient  to  continue  the  school  through 
the  winter,  and  to  engage  with  Mr.  Brainerd  in  behalf 
of  the  Synod  to  allow  him  fifteen  pounds  also  for  that 
term,  in  case  it  be  continued. 

"It  also  appears  to  this  Synod  that  Mr.  Brainerd  has 
labored  very  diligently  in  the  numerous  destitute  vacan- 
cies to  which  he  was  appointed  the  last  Synod ;  the  trea- 
surer is  therefore  ordered  to  pay  Mr.  Brainerd  the  twenty 


388  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

pounds  voted  him  last  year  for  the  said  service ;  and  it  is 
also  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Brainerd  twenty  pounds  for  the 
ensuing  year,  provided  it  shall  appear  at  the  next  Synod 
that  he  continues  to.  preach  the  gospel  in  the  numerous 
and  destitute  vacancies  in  his  neighborhood. 

"Mr.  Brainerd  requested  that  some  members  of  this 
body  should  be  appointed  to  inspect  the  journal  of  his 
last  year's  labors  in  the  destitute  places  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, and  to  report  the  state  of  his  accounts  with  respect 
to  that  service ;  and  Messrs.  Hunter  and  Spencer  are  or- 
dered a  committee  for  that  purpose." 

On  the  22d,  tins  committee  reported ;   they  say : 

"The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  Mr.  Brainerd's 
accounts  from  the  year  1760  to  the  year  1770  inclusive, 
report  that  Mr.  Brainerd  had  received  from  the  several 
congregations  he  hath  from  time  to  time  supplied  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Monohawkin  and  Egg  Harbor  only  the 
sum  of  fifty-nine  pounds  nineteen  shillings,  though  he 
had  preached  upwards  of  five  hundred  times  among  them, 
and  that  his  accounts  respecting  the  Indian  school  stand 
fair."  * 

Fifty-nine  pounds  nineteen  shillings  for  five 
hundred  sermons!  He  had  been  engaged  for 
years;  he  had  travelled  in  all  weathers,  and  on 
all  roads  but  smooth  and  well-beaten  ones;  he 
had  erected  some  half-dozen  churches;  and  all 
this  outside  of  his  main  work;  and,  as  a  return 
for  this  labor,  he  had  received  for  five  hundred 
sermons  less  than  sixty  pounds,  or  about  two  shil- 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  415,  41fi,  418. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  389 

lings  a  sermon.  This  is  the  grasping  avarice  of 
the  Presbyterian  clergy!  This  man  was  doubtless 
called  by  some,  in  contempt,  a  hireling  preacher! 
If  men  must  live  by  the  gospel,  it  is  little  wonder 
that  when  Mr.  Brainerd  died,  so  far  as  Presbyte- 
rian ministers  are  concerned,  his  field  lay  desolate 
for  near  a  hundred  years. 

We  have  a  single  letter  from  Mr.  Brainerd  in 
1771.  It  has  little  of  interest,  except  that  it  shows 
the  warmth  of  his  heart. 

NEW  HAVEN,  October  16,  1771. 

REVEREND  SIR: — 

I  thank  you  for  your  favor  of  the  yth  instant  by  Mr. 
Davenport,  and  desire  very  sincerely  and  affectionately 
to  condole  with  you  and  the  public  on  the  death  of  your 
dear  son,  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Maltby.  The  Lord  take  care 
of  his  dear  fatherless  and  motherless  children,  and  send 
to  the  people  of  his  late  charge  a  pastor  after  his  own 
heart. 

And  may  Heaven's  blessings  in  abundance  rest  on  you, 
your  dear  family,  and  charge.  I  long  to  see  you,  your 
college,  etc.,  but  cannot  now:  what  may  be  hereafter  I 
know  not. 

Can  say  nothing  farther  respecting  the  intended  mis- 
sion on  the  Muskingum. 

I  send  all  respectful  salutations  to  Mrs.  Wheelock  and 

your  family. 

I  am,  most  affectionately, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 


390  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

MISSION  OF  MESSES.  MCCLURE  AND  FRISBIE  TO  MttSKINGUM — ME. 
BRAINEBD'S  LETTEES  ON  HIS  OWN  EMBARRASSMENTS. 

1772. 

FT1HE  Synod  say:— 

"Mr.  Brainerd's  Indian  school  appears  to  have  been 
successfully  continued  since  our  last  Synod  six  months, 
for  which  it  is  agreed  to  give  him  fifteen  pounds;  and 
•we  farther  desire  him  to  continue  the  school  this  year  at 
the  expense  of  the  Synod,  and  we  appoint  Messrs.  Spen- 
cer, Hunter,  and  Green  to  visit  the  school  twice  before 
next  Synod,  or  oftener,  if  convenient. 

"It  appeared  also  to  the  Synod  that  Mr.  Brainerd  had 
very  fully  complied  with  the  order  of  last  Synod,  in  sup- 
plying the  numerous  vacancies  in  his  neighborhood :  there- 
fore the  treasurer,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  last  year,  is 
directed  to  pay  him  twenty  pounds.  Ordered,  also,  that 
Mr.  Brainerd  receive  for  the  ensuing  year  the  sum  of  eigh- 
teen pounds,  being  the  interest  of  the  money  in  the  hands 
of  the  Treasurer  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  for  the 
support  of  an  Indian  mission."  * 

The  correspondence  of  Mr.  Brainerd  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock  this  year  is  unusually  full, 

*  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  427. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  391 

suggesting  facts  bearing  on  his  character  and  his- 
tory. We  have  hesitated  in  spreading  some  of 
these  facts  before  our  readers;  but  it  would  be 
impossible  rightly  to  represent  this  missionary  if 
we  failed  to  allow  him  to  speak  for  himself  in  re- 
gard to  difficulties  which  burdened  and  embarrassed 
his  life  and  labors. 

We  have  seen  what  he  received  for  his  services, 
his  school,  and  his  mission, — about  fifty-five  pounds 
a  year  from  the  Synod,  and  a  few  pounds  additional, 
say  five  or  six  a  year,  from  his  white  churches.  He 
had  expended  much  of  his  little  estate  in  his  mis- 
sion, expecting  that  Governor  Bernard  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  New  Jersey,  who  had  drawn  him  to  the 
field,  would  see  him  through  in  the  matter.  He 
was  disappointed.  With  advancing  years  and  en- 
feebled health,  he  naturally  became  anxious  to  re- 
cover for  his  support  and  comfort  what  he  had  ex- 
pended in  good  faith  for  the  benefit  of  his  mission. 
Having  no  relief  at  home,  he  turned  to  his  old 
friends  in  Scotland,  and  appealed  to  the  Society 
for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge.  He  sup- 
poses Dr.  Wheelock's  European  acquaintance  and 
influence  would  avail  to  bring  him  relief.  This 
explains  the  long  letter  among  those  that  follow. 

TRENTON,  June  19,  1772. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

We  have  of  late  some  things  that  appear  very  un- 
friendly to  our  design  of  opening  a  mission  on  the  Mus- 
kingum,  or  anywhere  in  these  parts.  There  have  been, 


392  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

if  we  are  not  misinformed,  several  murders  committed 
between  the  Indians  and  white  people  on  both  sides,  and 
a  prospect  of  war  between  the  Senecas  and  Delawares ; 
nevertheless,  it  appears  to  me  best  to  prosecute  the  design 
as  far  as  we  can,  and,  by  consulting  Dr.  Witherspoon  and 
Mr.  Spencer,  I  find  they  are  of  the  same  opinion :  the 
doctor  (Witherspoon)  will  write  you  on  this  head. 

If  it  be  so  that  we  cannot  make  a  tour  this  year,  per- 
haps the  door  may  be  open  early  in  the  spring. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  young  gentlemen*  may  be  em- 
ployed in  my  boundaries;  but,  after  all,  the  matter  will 
be  submitted  wholly  to  your  judgment  and  at  your  direc- 
tion. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Wheelock,  and  kind  saluta- 
tions to  your  son  and  family.     I  write  in  haste,  and  almost 
without  pen  and  ink,  but  am,  more  than  ever, 
Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BRIDGETOWN   (MOUNT  HOLLY),  August  27,  1772. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

Yours  by  Messrs.  McClure  and  Frisbief  claims  my 
thankful  acknowledgments.  It  is  not  now  before  me. 

*  Young  men  designing  to  enter  on  missions. 

f  Rev.  David  McClure,  D.D.,  spent  some  time  with  Mr.  Kirkland 
at  Oneida,  afterwards  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1769,  became  a 
teacher  in  Dr.  Wheelock's  school,  and  in  1772  set  out,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Frisbie,  to  visit  the  Delaware  Indians  on  the  Muskingum 
River,  and  made  this  call  on  Mr.  Brainerd  on  his  way.  The  mission 
was  fruitless.  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Pomroy,  and  niece 
of  Dr:  Wheelock.  He  died  at  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  in  1820,  aged 
seventy-one.  In  1811,  in  connection  with  Dr.  Parish,  he  published 
the  "Memoirs  of  Dr.  Wheelock,"  in  which  there  seems  to  be  an  am- 
bitious effort  to  connect  him  with  great  personages  in  England  and 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  393 

After  the  young  gentlemen  had  been  with  me  some 
days,  as  long  as  we  thought  best,  and  both  preached  in 
my  borders,  I  attended  them  to  Philadelphia,  spent  some 
days  with  them  there  preparing  for  the  tour-work  among 
the  remote  Indians. 

If  the  road  had  been  open,  I  was  to  have  gone  with 
them  to  Muskingumj  but,  as  the  Board  of  Correspond- 
ents thought  that  not  advisable  at  this  time,  it  was  con- 
cluded they  should  make  a  visit  up  the  Susquehanna, 
especially  the  west  branch,  which  puts  out  toward  the 
Ohio ;  and,  as  no  great  things  were  expected  this  season, 
my  place  here  important,  the  summer  far  advanced,  and 
my  state  of  body  very  frail,  I  could  not  think  it  duty  to 
accompany  them  on  that  tour.  But,  by  a  letter  a  few 
days  ago  from  Mr.  Sproat,  I  find  that,  as  they  proceeded 
westward,  they  had  intelligence  by  the  Indian  traders  that 
the  ruptures  and  disturbances  among  the  Indians,  espe- 
cially in  the  parts  where  we  first  proposed  to  make  trial, 
had  happily  subsided,  and  they  determined  to  make  their 
way  for  Muskingum.  May  Heaven  prosper  their  way ! 

Their  letter  to  Mr.  Sproat  was  from  Carlisle,  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia,  on  the 
road  to  Fort  Pitt,  bearing  date  the  loth  instant.  I  hope 
they  may  meet  with  good  acceptance  among  the  Indians. 
I  would  have  gone  with  all  my  heart,  and  given  them  the 
best  introduction  in  my  power;  but  Divine  Providence, 

America,  and  to  ignore  Dr.  Wheelock's  earliest  and  warmest  friends. 
When  it  mentions  Brainerd,  which  it  does  but  once  or  twice,  it  calls 

him  Rev.  Mr.  B d.     No  wonder  the  book  never  readied  a  second 

edition.     It  was  false  to  the  heart  and  memory  of  Dr.  Wheelock. 

The  Rev.  Levi  Frisbie,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  graduated  in 
the  first  class  at  Dartmouth  College,  in  1771.  After  some  years  of 
faithful  missionary  labor,  he  was  settled  at  Ipswich,  Mass.,  in  1776, 
and  died  there,  in  1806,  aged  fifty-seven.  He  was  a  most  devoted 
and  useful  minister. 

34 


394  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

if  I  mistake  not,  has  ordered  it  otherwise,  and,  I  trust, 
all  for  the  best. 

Appearances  here  among  the  white  people  are  more- 
encouraging  ;  among  the  poor,  poor  Indians  less ;  never- 
theless, I  cannot  help  having  a  warm  side  towards  the 
cause  and  nation,  and  would  gladly  penetrate  far  into 
their  country,  would  my  state  of  body  permit. 

My  best  regards  wait  on  Mrs.  Wheelock :  kind  saluta- 
tions to  your  family,  particularly  your  eldest  son. 

I  greatly  rejoice  at  the  prosperity  of  your  college,  and 
am,  with  unfeigned  regard, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BRIDGETOWN   (MOUNT  HOLLY),  October  5,  1772. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

My  last,  dated  some  time  in  August,  if  I  mistake  not, 
gave  you  an  account  that  Messrs.  McClure  and  Frisbie 
were  on  their  way  to  Fort  Pitt,  what  obstructions  the 
mission  had  met  with,  and  the  reasons  why  I  did  not 
accompany  them  as  was  proposed  and  as  I  expected. 

The  young  gentlemen  set  out  by  themselves,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  the  25th  of  July;  but  when  they  had  proceeded 
about  one  hundred  miles,  hearing  that  those  obstructions 
were  in  a  great  measure  removed,  they  bent  their  course 
towards  Fort  Pitt,  where,  I  hear,  they  are  safely  arrived, 
and  expected  soon  to  go  for  Muskingum.  Frisbie  was 
not  very  well;  but  Mr.  McClure  was  determined  to  go 
alone  if  he  should  prove  unable  to  accompany  him. 

The  state  of  things  here  respecting  the  white  people 
wears  a  more  hopeful  aspect  than  for  some  time  past : 
the  Indians  are  in  statu  quo. 

I  write  in  haste.     My  very  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Whee- 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  395 

lock  and  your  family,  and  please  to  accept  the  same  your- 
self from, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  very  affectionate 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

BRIDGETOWN  (MOUNT  HOLLY),  December  25,  1772. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  have  long  expected  to  hear  something  from  Messrs. 
McClure  and  Frisbie,  but  nothing  since  I  wrote  you  last. 
I  can  hardly  think  they  have  omitted  writing,  but  nothing 
has  come  to  hand  since  the  day  I  parted  with  them  at 
Philadelphia.  I  cannot  but  be  much  concerned  about 
them  and  the  important  embassy  they  went  upon,  and 
exceedingly  want  to  hear  and  know  something. 

You  remember  I  informed  you  they  took  a  different 
route  from  what  we  all  expected  when  they  set  out. 
Had  we  apprehended  the  way  clear  to  Muskingum,  I 
could  have  gone  with  great  cheerfulness  at  a  proper 
season  of  the  year,  which  the  last  of  July  was  not.  I 
had  an  inward  inclination  to  go  up  the  Susquehanna,  the 
country  they  expected  to  visit  when  they  went  from  us, 
but  could  not  see  a  prospect  of  being  so  useful  there  as 
at  home;  and,  besides,  the  Board  of  Correspondents  at 
their  last  meeting  did  not  appoint  or  advise  my  going. 

I  hope,  or  at  least  most  sincerely  wish,  that  an  effectual 
door  may  be  opened  in  these  parts  and  others  for  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  gospel  among  the  poor  savages. 

Prospects  here  among  the  whites  are  rather  more  en- 
couraging than  heretofore.  Most  of  the  Indians  manage 
but  poorly.  Hezekiah  Calvin  is  capable  enough,  but 
will  not  be  any  thing:  he  seems  to  choose  to  be  a  useless 
creature  after  all  the  encouragements  I  can  give  him. 
Miriam  Store  has  had  a  most  dreadful  spell  of  rheuma- 


396  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

tism,  is  not  able  to  go  or  stand,  and  has  but  poor  use  of 
her  hands:  she  has  been  grievously  afflicted  for  more 
than  a  year:  I  hope  it  may  be  for  the  good  of  her  soul. 
The  old  man,  her  father,  is  yet  living.  There  has  been 
one  remarkable  instance  of  conversion  or  recovery  in  a 
great  and  grievous  backslider :  I  hope  it  may  be  perma- 
nent, and  be  followed  with  many  other  instances. 

In  November,  1763,  the  Correspondents  appointed  two 
of  their  members  to  examine  my  account,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  following  minute  was  drawn  up: — 

Mr.  Brainertfs  Pecuniary  Statement. 
"We,  the  under-written,  appointed  by  the  Correspond- 
ents of  the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge  as  a  committee  to  inspect  and  examine  the 
Rev'd  Mr.  John  Brainerd's  accounts  of  disbursem'ents  in 
the  said  Society's  service  as  their  missionary  among  the 
Indians,  do  hereby  report  and  certify  that  we  have  gone 
through  and  minutely  examined  his  said  accounts,  article 
by  article,  and  do  clearly  find  that  from  the  beginning 
of  his  said  mission  he  hath  expended  in  the  said  Society's 
service  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  same  the  sum  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  New-Jersey  proclamation- 
money,  over  and  above  his  annual  allowances  from  the 
said  Society,  and  over  and  above  the  public  collections 
and  private  donations  received  by  him  for  the  purposes 
of  the  said  mission. 

14  Witness  our  hand,  this  5th  of  November,  1763. 

"WM.  P.  SMITH,  Secretary, 
"SAM'L  WOODRUFF."  ' 

In  December,  1763,  I  received  toward  the  above  £49 
13*.  bd. :  the  remainder  of  the  principal,  with  the  interest, 
yet  remains,  together  with  more  than  £159  spent  in  the 
same  way  since  the  above  settlement. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  397 

I  do  not  know  that  it  will  be  in  your  power,  in  any 
degree,  to  relieve  me  in  the  above  premises ;  and  I  must 
beg  your  pardon  for  giving  you  the  trouble  of  such  a  dis- 
agreeable detail.  Was  I  a  person  of  fortune,  no  one,  I 
think,  should  ever  hear  of  it.  The  Correspondents  have 
written  repeatedly  to  the  Society  on  the  head,  and  no  help 
is  to  be  expected  there.  In  their  last  letter  they  expressed 
themselves  well  satisfied  with  my  conduct,  and  were  sorry 
for  my  disbursements,  but  pleaded  inability  to  refund ; 
nor  have  I  any  hopes,  unless  from  your  instrumentality 
or  some  other  friend  in  New  England.  I  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Smith,  alias  Williams,  on  the  head  some  time  in  the  fall, 
but  have  yet  heard  nothing.  If  the  Correspondents  could 
anyhow  get  it,  they  would ;  for  I  offered  to  give  £50  of 
it  to  the  College  at  least,  if  not  <£ioo.  And,  besides  what 
the  secretary  of  that  board  wrote,  Dr.  Witherspoon  used 
his  influence,  and,  I  believe,  Mr.  Horton,  who  has  lately 
been  in  Edinburgh,  and  was  a  person  of  so  much  note 
there  as  to  have  the  freedom  of  the  city  presented  him 
by  the  Lord-Provost  and  Corporation ;  but  all  their  at- 
tempts proved  fruitless,  so  that  I  have  no  hopes  of  having 
any  part  of  it  refunded  in  these  parts.  If  Mr.  Thornton 
of  London,  who,  I  am  told,  makes  it  a  rule  to  give  away 
three  thousand  guineas  annually,  or  some  other  such  able 
and  charitable  person,  could  know  my  situation,  possibly 
he  might  afford  me  some  relief. 

Those  disbursements  above  mentioned  have  arisen 
partly  from  attempts  to  promote  the  great  design  of  the 
mission,  such  as  clothing  and  schooling  the  children, 
particularly  sending  them  to  New  England,  which  at  one 
particular  time  cost  me  eight  pounds  our  currency,  and 
so  more  or  less,  according  to  the  number  sent  and  what 
clothes  they  stood  in  need  of;  building  a  meeting-house; 
repairing  a  glebe-house;  clearing  and  fencing  the  par- 

34* 


398  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

sonage-land  at  Brotherton,  etc.,  so  as  to  be  able  at  all  to 
live  there ;  some  church  expenses,  which,  indeed,  I  am 
loth  to  mention. 

But  the  above  sums  have  arisen  chiefly  from  the  me- 
dium of  my  support  being  too  small  to  subsist  upon  in 
the  midst  of  such  a  very  poor,  needy,  distressed  people; 
so  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  take  of  my  own  little  pit- 
tance for  my  necessary  support.  No  household  furniture 
or  any  thing  of  that  nature  ever  came  into  the  account ; 
but  such  things  as  were  constantly  consuming  and  con- 
sumed in  the  family. 

I  should  be  very  sorry  to  give  you  any  trouble  on  this 
head,  sensible  you  have  a  great  deal  on  your  hands ;  but 
I  also  know  you  have  great  pleasure  in  doing  good  and 
affording,  indeedx  relief  to  any  of  your  friends ;  and,  if 
none  can  be  obtained,  I  shall  be  but  where  I  am,  and 
have  the  pleasure  to  think  that  I  made  an  honest  attempt 
to  have  my  aggrievances  redressed,  and  be  put  into  a  situ- 
ation in  which  I  may  be  able  to  be  of  more  use  to  man- 
kind than  now  I  can. 

So,  wishing  you  all  prosperity  in  your  great  and  very 
laudable  undertakings,  presenting  my  best  regards  to  your 
worthy  yoke-fellow  and  kind  respects  to  your  family,  I 
subscribe  myself, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  ever  affectionate  friend 
and  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

P.S. — The  simple  interest  upon  .£295  los.  6^.,  the  re- 
maining principal  after  the  subtraction  of  the  above  .£49 
13^.  6^/.,  to  the  list  instant,  is  £44  14*.,  which,  added  to 
the  above  principal,  is  £340  3*.  6</., — errors  excepted. 

Rev'd  Dr.  WHEELOCK. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  399 


CHAPTER  XL. 

MR.  BRAINERD  BECOMES  SCHOOLMASTER — LETTERS  TO  DR.  WHEELOCK 
AND  REV.  DAVID  MCCLURE — STUDENT-LIFE  AT  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE 
— THE  REV.  MR.  RANKIN's  VISIT  AND  CRITICISM — CLOSE  OP  MR. 
BRAINERD'S  CORRESPONDENCE — WAR  SERMON — REMARKS  OF  THE 
EDINBURGH  COMMITTEE — BEOTHERTON. 

1773-4. 

rpHE  relation  of  Mr.  Brainerd  to  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  constituted  one 
of  the  most  impressive  aspects  of  his  life.  Year 
after  year  he  comes  up  from  the  wilderness  with 
his  story  of  hard  labor  and  patient  endurance,  and 
year  after  year  his  brethren  commend  his  fidelity, 
bless  his  work,  and  vote  him  his  pittance  for  sup- 
port. We  could  have  desired  them  to  have  shared 
a  portion  of  his  labors,  or  more  liberally  to  have 
rewarded  his  toils ;  but,  for  the  times  in  which  they 
lived,  they  showed  not  only  the  germ  of  that  mis- 
sionary spirit  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  which 
has  since  expanded  and  filled  the  land,  but  also 
an  adhesiveness,  a  tenderness,  and  generosity  to  the 
solitary  missionary  adapted  to  comfort  his  heart. 
This  year,  the  records  say : — 

"Mr.  Brainerd  reports  the  Indian  school  under  his 
care  has  not  been  continued  the  last  year,  he  not  being 
able  to  obtain  a  proper  master;  but  that  he  had,  as  often 


4oo  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR41NERD. 

as  consistent  with  his  other  business,  attended  to  the  in- 
struction of  the  children. 

"  And  he  further  reports,  that  he  preaches  in  seven 
places  besides  the  two  Indian  societies  under  his  special 
care.  For  these  services,  the  Synod  allow  Mr.  Brainerd 
twenty-five  pounds :  ordered,  that  the  treasurer  pay  the 
same. 

"Mr.  Brainerd  is  also  allowed  the  eighteen  pounds, 
interest  of  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  New 
Jersey  College  for  an  Indian  mission. 

Mr.  Brainerd  has  turned  schoolmaster!  Re- 
turning from  his  long  journeys  among  the  sands 
and  along  the  coast,  when  he  has  preached  in 
seven  places,  he  rests  himself  in  his  forest-home 
at  Brotherton  by  teaching  ignorant  Indian  chil- 
dren to  read  and  spell.  Here  is  a  man  of  all  work 
for  Christ  and  souls:  he  is  bearing  fruit,  too,  in 
advanced  years! 

The  following  brief  note  alludes  to  his  long 
letter  of  December  25, 1772.  While  overwhelmed 
with  labor  on  his  own  field,  how  steadily  his  heart 
yearns  for  distant  Indian  tribes,  and  sympathizes 
in  all  good  done  anywhere! 

BRIDGETOWN  (MOUNT  HOLLY),  February  3,  1773 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

When  I  wrote  the  above,  I  intended  soon  to  write  it 
over  in  a  finer  hand  and  send  it ;  but  no  opportunity  pre- 
senting, and  my  time  much  taken  up  in  journeying,  etc., 

*  Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  p.  439. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  401 

I  could  not  well  get  leave  till  now ;  when,  glancing  over 
it,  I  thought  it  might  be  read,  and,  time  being  precious 
with  me,  ventured  to  send  it  as  it  is :  know  your  good- 
ness can  excuse  all. 

The  day  before  yesterday  I  received  a  long,  kind, 
agreeable  letter  from  Mr.  McClure,  in  which  he  tells 
me  he  had  written  to  me  before ;  but  it  has  not  come  to 
hand. 

His  letter  is  dated  December  19,  in  which  he  informs 
me  he  has  sent  the  most  "important  parts  of  his  journal  to 
Dr.  Wheelock,"  so  that  it  is  not  likely  I  could  commu- 
nicate any  thing  new.  Mr.  Frisbie  and  he  are  preaching 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Pitt  this  winter.  I  am  sorry 
there  is  so  little  prospect  of  the  designs  taking  effect 
among  the  Indians  of  Muskingum ;  a  future  day,  it  is 
hopeful,  may  give  us  more  encouragement. 

So,  wishing  you  a  happy  new  year  and  all  prosperity, 
I  conclude  with  subscribing  myself, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 

Your  ever  affectionate 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Rev'd  Dr.  WHEELOCK. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Brainerd  to  Mr. 
David  McClure,  with  whom  the  reader  is  already 
acquainted,  speaks  for  itself: — 

BRIDGETOWN,  February  10,  1773. 

DEAR  SIR: — 

Your  favor  of  the  iQth  December  came  to  hand  a  few 
days  ago:  that  you  mention,  sent  to  the  care  of  Mr. 
Bayard,  I  have  not  received.  I  often  thought  of  you 
and  Mr.  Frisbie,  and  greatly  wanted  to  hear  from  you ; 
at  length  I  began  to  think  you  had  struck  through  the 


402  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD. 

country  to  Onohquanga,  etc.,  and  so  to  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege.* 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that  you  are  returned 
well  from  the  Indian  country :  I  pretty  well  know  how  you 

*  In  1770,  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock  had  removed  from  Lebanon,  Conn., 
to  Hanover,  N.  II.,  and  there  set  up  in  the  forest  Dartmouth  College 
and  his  Indian  school,  which  Brainerd  calls  the  Academy,  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  college.  The  college  has  had  a  progressive  and  glo- 
rious life.  The  Indian  school,  which  gave  birth  to  the  college,  has 
been  long  dead,  like  the  Indian  nations  it  was  designed  to  elevate. 

In  Mr.  Brainerd's  letters  to  President  Wheelock,  allusion  is  often 
made  to  the  prosperity  of  Dartmouth  College,  which  was  then  just 
founded  in  the  wilderness.  We  have  in  hand  the  diary  of  a  student 
there,  from  1780  to  1784.  This  young  man — Elijah  Brainerd,  a  rela- 
tive of  David  and  John — served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  a 
prisoner  in  Jersey  prison-ship,  received  a  wound  that  crippled  him 
for  life,  and  then  went  to  study  for  the  ministry  in  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated,  and  was  afterwards  settled  at  Royalton, 
Vt.,  and  Pelham,  Mass.  His  diary,  at  that  early  day,  is  suggestive 
and  amusing.  He  says : — 

"  October  I,  1780. — We  were  alarmed  by  the  Indians,  who  came  to  Royalton,  Vt.,  and 
burnt  it.  I  went  out  after  them,  and  we  overtook  them  in  the  twilight;  but  they  escaped. 
We  pursued  them  to  Brookfield  :  I  was  out  three  days." 

u  Dartmouth,  March  I,  1781. — This  day  an  alarm  was  given  that  the  Indians  had  taken 
five  prisoners,  not  far  from  Coos,  N.  H.,  and  were  approaching  Newbury.  We  made  to- 
wards them :  the  enemy  retreated,  and  our  men  returned  back." 

John  Brainerd's  young  Indians  at  Dartmouth  had  around  them 
rough  scenes  in  1770,  not  very  favorable  to  their  civilization  or  re- 
finement. 

But  even  then  Dartmouth  had  revivals.     Our  student  says : — 

'•'•January  i,  1782. — This  day  we  held  a  fast  in  college,  and  renewed  covenant,  and 
t'tgned  «/,  at  evening,  at  Captain  Store's.  Eleven  were  added  to  the  Church." 

'•'•January  ij,  1782. — This  week  we  have  had  eight  good  sermons  preached:  the  happy 
v/ork  stiil  continues.  Happy  times,  indeed  !" 

"  Fthruarj  10,  1782. — This  day  was  a  very  solemn  one  in  the  church  at  Dresden.  The 
Sacrament  administered,  and  fifty  admitted,  by  which  this  church  has  doubled  its  mem- 
bers." 

"jtfril  26,  1782. — This  day  Dartmouth  students  set  apart  thret  hours  for  secret  devotion 
to  our  God,  who  has  shown  us  great  favors  the  winter  past  in  visiting  many  of  us  with  his 
Holy  Spirit.  O  Dartmouth !  may  thy  sons  long  remember  this  signal  mercy,  and  always 
live  devoted  to  the  fear  of  the  unchanging  Jehovah  !" 

To  this  prayer  of  the  young  Sophomore  of  1782  all  good  men  of 
1365  will  say,  with  the  writer,  "Amen,  and  Amen!" 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  403 

must  have  felt  when  you  arrived  at  Christian  habitations. 
But  it  is  grievous  to  think  these  poor,  benighted  savages 
must  still  remain  under  the  tyranny  of  the  Prince  of 
Darkness:  a  future  day,  I  hope,  will  give  us  more  en- 
couragement and  comfort. 

I  am  glad  to  find  you  are  so  well  employed  this  winter 
season :  I  hope  you  may  have  much  more  fruit  of  your 
labors  than  in  your  summer  tour.  Shall  be  glad  to  see 
you  in  the  spring,  if  the  Lord  spare  us. 

Am  quite  obliged  to  you  for  writing  so  largely  and 
being  so  particular  in  your  letter.  I  have,  since  the  re- 
ceipt of  yours,  written  to  Dr.  Wheelock,  but  have  no 
direct  opportunity  to  send  at  present;  and  I  am  not  so 
anxious,  as  I  suppose  it  probable  he  has  by  this  time,  if 
not  before,  the  most  important  contents  of  your  journal. 

We  have  nothing  very  special  here,  unless  a  very  great 
change  in  two  Indians, — one  especially,  which  is  of  some 
months'  standing,  and,  I  hope,  may  continue ;  the  other, 
more  recent. 

Please  to  give  very  kind  regards  to  Mr.  Frisbie.  My 
family,  through  Divine  goodness,  is  now  pretty  well :  we 
shall  all  be  glad  to  see  you  both. 

That  a  Divine  blessing  may  ever  attend  you  and  your 
ministry  wherever  the  holy  Providence  of  God  may  call 
you,  is  the  unfeigned  desire  and  fervent  prayer  of, 
Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Mr.  DAVID  McCujRE. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Rankin,  one  of  the  Rev.  John 
Wesley's  laborers,  spent  five  years — from  1773  to 
1778 — in  mission-work  in  America,  and  left  pro- 
bably from  sympathy  with  the  mother- country  at 


404  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

the  Revolution.  He  died,  in  1810,  in  London. 
He  kept  a  journal,  from  which  we  make  the  fol- 
lowing extracts: — 

"Thursday,  Sept.  I,  1774. — I  rode  to  New  Mills,  and 
preached  to  a  large  number  in  the  Baptist  meeting-house. 
Here,  also,  is  the  beginning  of  good  days.  On  Friday  I 
rode  to  Mount  Holly,  and  preached  in  the  Presbyterian 
meeting-house  to  an  attentive  congregation:  I  found 
profit  and  pleasure  at  this  opportunity. 

"Here  I  met  with  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  brother  and 
successor  to  that  great  and  good  man  Mr.  David  Brain- 
erd, missionary  to  the  Indians.  I  spent  an  agreeable 
hour  with  him  after  preaching.  But,  alas !  what  an  un- 
pleasing  account  did  he  give  me  of  the  remains  of  his 
most  excellent  brother's  labors,  as  well  as  his  own, 
among  the  Indians!  When  his  brother  died  (a  little 
above  twenty  years  ago),  he  succeeded  him  in  the  mis- 
sion. At  that  time  there  was  a  large  company  of  In- 
dians who  regularly  attended  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
and  above  sixty  who  were  communicants.  They  were 
now  reduced  to  a  small  number  who  attended  his  min- 
istry, and  not  above  ten  or  twelve  who  were  proper  to 
be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table.  I  asked  him  the  reason 
of  this  declension.  Some,  he  observed,  were  dead,  and 
died  happy  in  the  Lord ;  others  had  grown  careless  and 
lukewarm ;  and  many  had  wandered  back  among  the  un- 
awakened  Indians,  some  of  whom  had  turned  again  to 
their  heathenish  customs.  There  were  also  some  who 
had  given  way  to  the  love  of  spirituous  liquors  (from 
which  they  had  once  been  wholly  delivered),  so  that  the 
gold  was  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  changed." 

'•'•Wednesday,  June  7,  1775. — I  spent  an  agreeable  hour 
with  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  at  Mount  Holly.  He  gave  me 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  405 

a  fuller  account  than  he  had  done  before  of  the  Indians 
under  his  care;  and  from  what  he  said  I  am  more  fully 
convinced  of  what  I  have  thought  before,  that  none  can  do 
good  among  those  outcasts  of  men  (comparatively  speak- 
ing) but  those  alone  who  are  peculiarly  raised  up  and 
called  of  God  to  that  work.  His  brother  David  Brain- 
erd  was  such  an  one ;  and  such  must  all  be  who  will  be 
of  use  in  the  conversion  of  the  Indians."* 

The  above  is  tinged  with  the  peculiar  views  of 
the  Wesleyans  of  his  day,  and  perhaps  colored 
also  by  the  prejudices  of  an  itinerant  introducing 
a  new  sect;  but  still  had  much  truth  in  it.  Pro- 
bably Mr.  Rankin  failed  to  understand  Mr.  Brain- 
erd  fully.  About  this  time  it  was  stated  officially 
that  the  number  of  Indians,  instead  of  being  very 
small  comparatively,  amounted  in  all;  including 
scattered  families  on  Quakeson  Creek,  Rancocas, 
Grossweeksung,  Cranberry,  and  Brotherton,  to  "a 
hundred  and  fifty  or  sixty;"  and  that  as  to  their 
morals  "they  were  in  general  rather  improved, 
and  many  of  them  sustained  an  unblemished  cha- 
racter." But  Mr.  Rankin 's  statement  is  confirmed 
to  some  extent  by  all  Mr.  Brainerd's  letters  to  Dr. 
Wheelock.  When  we  remember  that  nearly  thirty 
years  had  elapsed  since  the  Crossweeksung  revival, 
that  twice  the  Indians  had  been  robbed  of  their 
lands  and  their  families  rooted  up,  that  war  had 
carried  off  a  large  number,  twenty-two  falling  at 
Fort  William  Henry,  that  they  were  girded  by 

*  Methodist  Magazine;     Jjondon,  1811,  vol.  xxxiv.  pp.  885,  887. 
35 


4o6  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

corrupt  whites  tempting  them  to  intemperance 
and  the  other  vices  which  have  ruined  so  many 
Indian  nations,  and  that  the  mission  itself  was 
left  to  struggle  with  poverty  in  its  resources,* — 
when  we  bear  this  in  mind,  we  shall  be  rather  sur- 
prised that  ten  or  twelve,  with  Mr.  Brainerd' s  high 
standard,  were  "deemed  qualified  for  the  Lord's 
Supper."  As  to  the  special  call  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Rankin,  we  may  ask  whether  the  best-appointed 
man  and  means  may  not  fail  of  converting  sin- 
ners, and  whether  the  best  missionary  may  not 
have  his  usefulness  hindered  by  causes  which  he 
cannot  control.  Unless  we  admit  this,  it  seems 
that  the  responsibility  of  failure  is  not  in  any  lack 
of  holiness  or  industry  in  the  preacher,  nor  in  the 
stubbornness  of  sinners,  nor  in  the  absence  of  the 
Spirit,  but  in  God's  failing  to  give  the  "special 
call"  to  the  minister.  It  would  seem,  also,  that 
Enoch,  Noah,  Elijah,  and  even  Christ  himself, 
lacked  the  call  of  God  to  their  work,  as  they  failed 
to  convert  the  sinners  to  whom  they  preached. 
Could  Mr.  Rankin  imagine  a  higher  fidelity  than 
Mr.  Brainerd  had  exhibited  in  his  work? 

The  Synod  this  year  made  the  salary  of  Mr. 
Brainerd  forty-five  pounds.  We  suppose  the  five 
pounds  were  given  him  as  the  schoolmaster:  he 
is  ready  for  any  service  of  his  Master 

The  following  letter  is  dated  Brotherton,  instead 
of  Bridgetown  or  Mount  Holly.  We  are  inclined, 

*  Scotch  American  Correspondents'  MSS.,  vol.  ii.  p.  18. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  407 

from  various  hints  in  his  history,  to  believe  that 
about  this  time  he  left  Mount  Holly,  as  a  residence, 
and  went  back  to  Brotherton,  and  remained  with 
his  Indians  there,  or  at  Great  Egg  Harbor,  in  their 
neighborhood,  about  two  years,  until  his  call  to 
Deerfield,  in  1777.  We  copy  this  letter,  as  we  have 
copied  many  others,  not  from  any  marked  value  in 
its  contents,  but  because  it  furnishes  hints  of  the 
times,  and  illustrates  the  beautifully  kind  and 
Christian  spirit  of  the  writer  himself.  It  is  the 
last  letter  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  which  we  have  been 
able  to  procure,  probably  the  last  from  his  pen  in 
existence,  and,  so  far  as  this  volume  is  concerned, 
closes  his  correspondence. 

BROTHERTON,  May  9,  1775. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

This  gratefully  acknowledges  yours  of  April  i,  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Frisbie.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear 
of  your  welfare ;  that  you  are  personally  in  so  good  a 
state  of  health,  and  your  family  so  comfortable;  that 
your  college  and  academy  are  so  flourishing;  and  espe- 
cially for  the  late  happy  revival  of  religion  and  outpour- 
ing of  Divine  influences  on  the  students.  May  the  Lord's 
goodness  be  continued,  and  his  grace  abundantly  mani- 
fested to  that  school  of  the  prophets  to  the  latest  ages ! 

While  the  Lord  is  so  divinely  gracious  to  you,  while 
we  are  offering  up  our  unfeigned  praises  for  the  shower 
of  his  grace  on  your  field,  permit  us  to  request  your  fer- 
vent prayers  in  behalf  of  our  poor,  dry,  barren  wilder- 
ness. It  may  be  the  Lord  will  hear,  and  send  us  a  day 
of  his  power. 

I  hope  Mr.  Frisbie  will  meet  with  no  obstruction  in 


408  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

the  design  he  is  come  upon.  My  present  weak  and  very 
frail  state  of  body  does  in  a  manner  forbid  my  making  a 
journey  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  to 
attend  a  Board  of  the  Correspondents  :  nevertheless,  if  I 
thought  my  presence  really  necessary,  I  would  exert  my- 
self to  the  utmost. 

I  have  much  cause  of  thankfulness  for  some  comfort- 
able degree  of  health  in  my  family,  and  for  many  other 
undeserved  favors.  Please  to  present  my  best  regards  to 
Mrs.  Wheelock,  my  kind  respects  to  your  son  R  -  and 
your  other  children,  and  assure  ypurself  that  I  am,  with 
all  cordial  affection  and  esteem, 

Reverend  and  honored  sir, 
Your  true  friend 

and  very  humble  servant, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rcv'd  Dr. 


In  closing  the  series  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  letters, 
it  is  due  to  his  memory  to  bear  in  mind  that,  if 
they  lack  variety  of  incidents  and  finish  of  style, 
it  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  they  were  nearly 
all  addressed  to  one  individual,  and  lie  rather  a  pro- 
fessional than  a  personal  friend  ;  that  they  are  con- 
fined mainly  to  one  class  of  subjects,  in  which  the 
parties  had  a  common  interest;  that  they  were 
penned  as  opportunity  of  sending  them  offered, 
frequently  in  great  haste  and  among  distracting 
influences;  and  that  they  were  all  private,  and 
some  of  them  strictly  confidential  epistles.  Con- 
sidering all  this,  we  are  prepared  to  challenge  for 
them,  as  a  whole,  the  approbation  of  all  lovers  of 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  409 

true  piety,  unselfish  benevolence,  earnest  religious 
zeal,  and  warm-hearted  social  friendship.  Had  we 
Dr.  Wheelock's  responses,  it  would  add  interest  to 
the  letters;  but  alone  they  will  be  cherished  as 
mementos  of  a  devout  and  affectionate  friend  of 
God  and  man. 

1775-76. 

We  have  little  information  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  la- 
bors during  1775  and  1776.  It  was  a  season  of 
public  turmoil.  The  battles  of  Lexington  and  Bun- 
ker Hill  had  been  fought,  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence made,  and  the  Presbyterian  clergy  of  the 
country,  sympathizing  most  heartily  in  the  princi- 
ples involved  in  the  contest,  were  greatly  engaged 
in  stimulating  the  courage  and  animating  the  hopes 
of  their  fellow-countrymen.  The  same  zeal  which 
led  Mr.  Brainerd  to  offer  himself  as  a  chaplain  in 
the  Old  French  War  doubtless  burned  in  his  heart 
in  this  hour  of  peril.  He  belonged  to  a  family 
not  likely  to  stand  neutral  in  the  shock  of  con- 
flicting principles,  nor  to  be  insensible  of  their 
obligations  to  their  native  land.*  The  State  of 

*  The  Rev.  Allen  H.  Brown,  of  New  Jersey,  has  furnished  us  with 
the  following  facts.  He  says,  under  date  of  August,  1864 : — 

"  I  have  before  me  a  sermon  preached  by  Rev.  B.  S.  Everett, 
pastor,  at  the  dedication  of  the  church  of  Blackwoodtown,  and 
make  this  extract : — 

"  '  The  inhabitants  of  West  Jersey  were  from  the  first  strongly  opposed  to  the  crown, 
and  at  the  outbreak  flocked  to  their  country's  defence.  Their  patriotism,  too,  was  stirred 
up  and  guided  by  their  ministers  in  those  days. 

"  'In  1776,  John  Brainerd  preached  in  the  church  here  a  sermon  glowing  with  patriot- 
ism. His  text  was  (Psalm  cxliv.  i),  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  my  strength,  which  teacheth 

35* 


4 io  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

New  Jersey,  lying  between  the  great  cities  of 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  was  in  the  direct 
track  of  advancing  and  retreating  armies:  some- 
times it  was  in  the  possession  of  one  side,  some- 
times the  other.  And  there  were  not  wanting 
then,  as  now,  men  of  easy  principles,  whose  pa- 
triotism and  courage  rose  and  fell  with  their  inte- 
rest and  convenience.  The  Indian  population,  in- 
stinctively tending  to  "smell  the  battle  afar  off," 
and  loosely  compacted  in  habits  of  civilization, 
would  naturally  become  more  intractable  and  reli- 
giously unimpressible  in  these  circumstances. 

The  motive  which  led  Mr.  Brainerd  from  Mount 
Holly  to  Brotherton,  and  from  Broth ertori  finally 
to  Deerfield,  was,  doubtless,  to  escape  the  agita- 
tions of  the  period,  so  that  his  influence  as  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  could  be  made  still  effective. 

As  his  pecuniary  condition  had  been  straitened 
by  his  sacrifices  for  his  mission,  he  made  a  final 
effort,  as  we  have  seen,  to  secure  relief  from  his 
old  friends  in  Scotland.  The  Society  for  Propa- 
gating Christian  Knowledge  seemed  still  to  regard 
him  as  in  some  sense  their  missionary,  and  no 
doubt  would  have  aided  him  had  not  their  funds 
failed.  In  spite  of  the  bitterness  rising  between 
the  two  countries,  they  still  regarded  him  with 
great  interest,  and  in  the  year  1776  itself,  the 

my  hands  to  wai1,  and  my  fingers  to  fight."     He  appealed  to  the  people  to  enlist  and  fight 
for  their  country. 

"  '  The  audience  was  deeply  impressed.  Tears  flowed  freely :  stout  hearts  and  strong 
wills  resolved  to  join  the  army.  Randal  Morgan  and  his  two  sons,  Lazarus  Pine  and  his 
sons,  John  Hedger,  David  Morgan,  Richard  Cheescman  and  son,  served  in  the  war.'  " 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  411 

General  Meeting  of  the  Society  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing minute : — 

Extract  from  Minutes,  Edinburgh,  "June  5,  1776. 

"There  was  read  a  letter,  of  date  the  23d  February 
last,  from  Mr.  John  Brainerd,  the  Society's  missionary, 
then  at  Bridgetown,  together  with  a  journal  of  his  labors, 
commencing  December,  1770,  and  ending  in  December, 
1774:  he  further  mentions  that  he  had  not  had  time  to 
transcribe  the  journal  of  last  year,  but  had  proceeded  and 
carried  it  on  as  heretofore.  Mr.  Brainerd  further  trans- 
mitted a  report,  signed  by  two  correspondent  members 
in  1763,  bearing  that  from  the  beginning  of  his  mission 
in  the  Society's  service  .£320  New-Jersey  proclamation- 
money,  over  and  above  his  annual  allowance  from  the 
Society,  and  over  and  above  the  public  collections  and 
private  donations  received  by  him  for  the  support  of  the 
mission;  some  small  part  of  which  sum  Mr.  Brainerd 
writes  he  has  received,  but  the  remainder  with  lawful  inte- 
rest amounts  to  above  =£450,  Spanish  dollars  at  7*.  6d.  He 
has  likewise  expended  considerable  sums  since  the  above 
time  in  the  same  manner  as  before ;  all  which  he  entreats 
the  Society  to  take  into  consideration,  and  allow  him  to 
draw  for  the  whole  or  part. 

"The  Clerk  is  to  examine  the  Society's  minutes  and 
account  relative  to  the  above  claim  made  by  Mr.  Brain- 
erd, and  report  to  next  ordinary  meeting  of  the  Com- 
mittee." 

Before  the  Committee  could  meet,  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  the  prevalence  of  war 
terminated  all  intercourse  between  England  and 
America;  but  we  cannot  record  this  final  minute 


412  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD. 

of  the  Society  in  regard  to  Mr.  Brain erd  without 
testifying  our  approbation  of  the  Christian  bene- 
volence in  which  their  Society  was  founded,  our 
admiration  of  their  perseverance  in  the  great  idea 
of  converting  the  pagans  of  this  continent,  and 
our  gratitude  for  the  sympathy,  encouragement, 
prayer,  and  pecuniary  aid  which  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  they  gave  to  the  brothers  David  and  John 
Brainerd. 

The  Synod  of  1775  continued  Mr.  Brainerd  on 
the  "Commission,"  and  appointed  him  a  delegate 
to  the  Convention  at  Greenfield,  Conn.,  the  first 
Wednesday  of  September,  and  up  to  the  year  of 
his  death  considered  him  as  their  missionary  to 
the  Indians,  allowing  him  the  interest  of  the  three 
hundred  pounds  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  of 
New  Jersey  College.  His  pastorship  at  Deerfield 
from  1777  to  1781  was  not  allowed  to  interfere 
with  this  arrangement  of  Brainerd's  general  care 
of  the  Indian  mission. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  labors  as  a  do- 
mestic missionary  among  the  whites  of  New  Jer- 
sey we  shall  present  hereafter.  Outside  of  his 
mission  at  Brotherton  there  was  a  settlement  of 
Indians,  about  a  mile  west  of  Vincenttown,  where 
stood  a  log  church,  erected  by  his  influence,  in 
which  he  often  preached.  Its  vicinity  to  Mount 
Holly,  when  that  place  was  invaded,  interrupted 
his  labors  at  that  station. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  413 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

SKETCH  OF  BEOTHERTON — MR.  BRAINERD  SETTLES  AT  DEERFIELD — IN- 
DIANS NEGLECTED REV.  DANIEL  SIMON — FINAL  EXIT  OF  THE  IN- 
DIANS FROM  NEW  JERSEY BARTHOLOMEW  S.  CALVIN'S  RETURN — 

DELAWARE  INDIANS  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  MICHIGAN — MR.  BRAINERu's 
LABORS  NOT   LOST. 

TN  the  year  1777,  at  fifty-seven  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Brainerd  removed  from  Brotherton  to  Deerfield, 
in  Cumberland  county,  N.  J.,  and  took  charge  of 
the  church  there.  He  still  seems  to  have  retained 
some  oversight  of  the  mission.  In  1778,  1779, 
and  1780,  up  to  the  year  of  his  death,  the  Synod 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  voted  that  "the 
interest  on  the  Indian  fund  be  paid  to  Mr.  Brain- 
erd for  his  services  among  the  Indians."  To  the 
last  of  life  he  seems  to  have  clung  to  his  little 
flock, — his  first  love, — and  his  brethren  did  their 
best  in  a  time  of  war  to  sustain  him. 

Brotherton,  the  Indian  settlement  which  he  had 
aided  to  build  up,  and  where  for  fifteen  years  he 
had  resided,  was  situated  in  what  is  now  a  pros- 
perous and  pleasant  rural  neighborhood,  near  the 
present  Shamong  station,  on  the  Delaware-Bay 
and  Raritan  Railroad,  about  forty  miles  from  Phi- 
ladelphia. The  "  Historical  Collections  of  New 
Jersey"  give  the  following  description : — 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  SR4INERD. 

"  Edgepelick  (or  Indian  Mills)  is  the  name  of  a  locality 
about  three  miles  north  of  Atsion,  where  was  the  last 
Indian  settlement  in  the  State.  The  remnant  of  the 
tribe,  consisting  of  about  one  hundred  souls,  emigrated 
to  the  West  nearly  half  a  century  since.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  single  family,  but  of  mixed  breed,  residing  in  the 
vicinity,  in  a  log  hut.  Brainerd,  the  missionary,  for  a 
time  resided  among  the  Indians  at  this  place.  His  dwell- 
ing-house stood  about  eight  rods  south  of  the  saw-mill 
of  Godfrey  Hancock,  on  rising  ground,  the  site  of  which 
is  still  marked  by  depression,  showing  the  precise  spot 
where  the  cellar  was.  Within  a  few  rods  is  the  spring 
from  which  the  family  obtained  water.  The  natives  had 
a  saw-mill  on  the  site  of  Nicholas  S.  Thompson's  mill, 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  northeast  of  Brainerd's  house.  Their 
burying-ground  was  on  the  edge  of  the  pond  about  forty 
rods  northwest  of  the  same  dwelling.  In  the  vicinity 
stood  their  church,  built  of  logs,  and  destroyed  about 
thirty-five  years  since.  After  the  Indians  left,  it  was 
used  by  the  whites  for  public  worship." 

Gordon,  in  his  "History  of  New  Jersey,"  gives 
a  still  more  detailed  account  of  this  place.  He 


"This  property  was  vested  in  trustees  for  the  use  of 
the  Indians  resident  south  of  the  Raritan,  so  that  they 
could  neither  sell  nor  lease  any  part  thereof}  and  all  per- 
sons other  than  Indians  were  forbidden  to  settle  thereon. 
Soon  after  the  purchase,  they  were  assisted  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  remove  to  this  spot  and  to  erect  commodious 
buildings.*  In  1765,  there  were  about  sixty  persons 

*  The  readers  of  this  book  will  receive  this  statement  with  due 
limitations.  Government  promised  assistance,  but  failed  to  give  it. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  415 

settled  here,  and  twenty-nine  at  Weekpink,  on  a  tract  se- 
cured by  an  English  right  to  the  family  of  King  Charles, 
an  Indian  sachem.  But  no  measure  has  yet  been  devised 
to  avert  the  fiat  which  has  gone  forth  against  this  devoted 
race.  This  feeble  remnant  having  obtained  permission  to 
sell  their  lands  in  November,  1801,  between  seventy  and 
eighty  removed,  in  1802,  to  a  settlement  on  the  Oneida 
Lake,  belonging  to  the  Stockbridge  (Oneida)  Indians, 
who  had  invited  their  'grandfathers  to  eat  of  their  dish,' 
saying,  cit  was  large  enough  for  both;'  and  adding,  with 
characteristic  earnestness,  that  4they  had  stretched  their 
necks  in  looking  towards  the  fireside  of  their  grandfathers 
until  they  were  as  long  as  cranes.'  The  united  tribes  re- 
mained here  until  1824,  when  the  encroachments  of  the 
whites  induced  them,  with  the  Six  Nations  and  the  Mun- 
ceys,  to  quit  New  Stockbridge,  and  to  purchase  from  the 
Menomees  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Fox  River,  between 
Winnebago  Lake  and  Green  Bay,  and  extending  to  Lake 
Michigan.  In  1832,  the  New  Jersey  tribe,  reduced  to 
less  than  forty,  applied  by  memorial  to  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,  setting  forth  that  they  never  conveyed  their 
reserved  rights  of  hunting  and  fishing  on  unenclosed  lands, 
and  had  appointed  an  agent  to  transfer  them  on  receipt  of 
a  compensation.  This  agent,  a  venerable  chief  of  seventy- 
six  years  of  age,  bore  the  name  of  Bartholomew  S.  Cal- 
vin.* He  had  been  selected  by  Rev.  J.  Brainerd,  brother 

*  This  Bartholomew  S.  Calvin  was  the  son  of  Stephen  Calvin,  and 
brother  of  Hezekiah.  He  had  another  educated  brother,  reared  on 
the  Calvin  Farm,  near  Brotherton.  In  his  petition  to  the  Legisla- 
ture of  New  Jersey,  in  1832,  he  said: — 

"  MY  BRETHREN  : — 

"  I  am  old,  and  weak,  and  poor,  and  therefore  a  fit  representative  of  my  people.  You 
are  young,  and  strong,  and  rich,  and  therefore  fit  representatives  of  your  people.  But  let 
me  beg  you  for  a  moment  to  lay  aside  the  recollections  of  your  strength  and  of  our  weak- 
ness, that  your  minds  may  be  prepared  to  examine  with  candor  the  subject  of  our  claims. 


416  LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

of  the  celebrated  Indian  missionary,  and  placed  at  Prince- 
ton College  in  1770,  where  he  continued  until  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  cut  off  the  funds  of  the  Scotch  Missionary 
Society,  by  whom  he  was  supported.  He  afterwards  taught 
school  at  Edgepeling,  where  he  had  as  many  white  as  In- 

"  Our  tradition  informs  us,  and,  I  believe,  it  corresponds  with  your  records,  that  the 
right  of  fishing  in  all  the  rivers  and  bays  south  of  the  Raritan,  and  of  hunting  on  all  un- 
enclosed lands,  was  never  relinquished ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  was  expressly  reserved  in 
our  last  treaty,  held  at  Crossweeks  in  1758. 

"  Having  myself  been  one  of  the  parties  to  the  sale,  I  believe,  in  1801,  I  know  that 
these  rights  were  not  sold  or  parted  with. 

"  We  now  offer  to  sell  these  privileges  to  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  They  were  once  of 
great  value  to  us ;  and  we  apprehend  that  neither  time  nor  distance,  nor  the  non-use  of 
our  rights,  has  at  all  affected  them,  but  the  Courts  here  would  consider  our  claims  valid 
were  we  to  exercise  them  ourselves  or  delegate  them  to  others.  It  is  not,  however,  our 
wish  to  excite  litigation.  We  consider  the  State  Legislature  the  proper  purchaser,  and 
throw  ourselves  upon  its  benevolerfce  and  magnanimity;  trusting  that  feelings  of  justice 
and  liberality  will  induce  you  to  give  us  what  you  deem  a  compensation. 

"BARTHOLOMEW  S.  CALVIN, 

"In  behalf  of  himself  and  his  red  brethren." 

Calvin  was  seventy -six  years  old,  white-haired,  venerable  in  ap- 
pearance, and  dignified  in  manner.  As  the  solitary  representative 
of  his  tribe,  he  must  have  seemed 

"  Like  one  who  trod  alone 
Some  banquet-hall  deserted." 

The  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  granted  him  two  thousand  dollars 
on  his  petition.  He  made  the  following  response.  It  does  full  jus- 
tice to  New  Jersey  ;  perhaps  a  little  more. 

"TRENTON,  March  12,  1832. 

"  Bartholomew  S.  Calvin  takes  this  method  to  return  his  thanks  to  both  Houses  of  the 
State  Legislature,  and  especially  to  their  Committees,  for  their  very  respectful  attention  to, 
and  candid  examination  of,  the  Indian  claims  which  he  was  delegated  to  present. 

"  The  final  act  of  official  intercourse  between  the  State  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Delaware 
Indians,  who  once  owned  nearly  the  whole  of  its  territory,  has  now  been  consummated, 
and  in  a  manner  which  must  redound  to  the  honor  of  this  growing  State  and,  in  all  proba- 
bility, to  the  prolongation  of  the  existence  of  a  wasted,  yet  grateful,  people.  Upon  this 
parting  occasion,  I  feel  it  to  be  an  incumbent  duty  to  bear  the  feeble  tribute  of  my  praise 
to  the  high-toned  justice  which  in  this  instance  and,  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted,  in  all 
former  times  has  actuated  the  Councils  of  this  Commonwealth  in  dealing  with  the  abori- 
ginal inhabitants. 

"  Not  a  drop  of  our  blood  have  you  spilled  in  battle, — not  an  acre  of  our  land  have  you 
taken  but  by  our  consent.  These  facts  speak  for  themselves,  and  need  no  comment :  they 
place  the  character  of  New  Jersey  in  bold  relief  and  bright  example  to  those  States  within 
whose  territorial  limits  our  brethren  still  remain.  Nothing  save  bcnisons  can  fall  upon  her 
from  the  lips  of  Lcni  Lennapi." 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  417 

dian  pupils.  As  all  legal  claim  of  the  tribe  was,  even  by 
its  own  members,  considered  barred  by  voluntary  aban- 
donment, the  Legislature  consented  to  grant  remuneration 
as  an  act  of  voluntary  justice,  or  rather  as  a  memorial  of 
kindness  and  compassion  to  the  remnant  of  a  once  power- 
ful and  friendly  people,  occupants  and  natives  of  the  State, 
and  as  a  consummation  of  a  proud  fact  in  the  history  of 
New  Jersey,  that  every  Indian  claim  to  her  soil  and  its 
franchises  had  been  acquired  by  fair  and  voluntary  trans- 
fer. By  the  Act  of  I2th  March,  1832,  the  treasurer  was 
directed  to  pay  the  agent  two  thousand  dollars  for  a  full 
relinquishment  of  the  rights  of  his  tribe."  * 

After  Mr.  Brainerd  ceased  his  labors,  in  1781, 
neither  the  Scotch  Society  nor  the  Synod  seemed 
longer  to  assume  responsibility  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Indian  congregation  at  Brotherton.  The  Rev. 
Daniel  Simon  (an  Indian  who  had  been  ordained 
to  the  ministry)  preached  at  Brotherton  in  1783, 
but  was  soon  suspended  for  immorality,  and  no 
missionary  was  ever  appointed  to  succeed  him. 
The  Indians  were  left  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 
Gradually  sinking  in  moral  character,  and  still 
dwindling  in  numbers,  in  July,  1802,  but  eighty- 
five  Indians  remained  at  Brotherton. 

In  June,  1861,  in  company  with  Rev.  Samuel 
Miller,-]'  of  Mount  Holly,  we  paid  a  visit  to  Bro- 
therton, now  called  in  the  neighborhood  Shamung, 
or  Indian  Mills.  A  morning  drive  of  fifteen  miles, 

*  Gordon's  History  of  New  Jersey,  p.  64. 

f  Son  of  the  late  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D:,  of  Princeton,  and  a 
faithful  missionary  in  the  field  once  occupied  by  John  Brainerd. 

36 


4i8  LIFE   OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

with  a  light  buggy  and  two  horses,  through  a  well- 
cultivated  country  and  on  a  good  road,  brought  us 
to  the  ancient  farm  of  Stephen  Calvin,  father  of 
Hezekiah  and  Bartholomew  Calvin  (Brainerd's  pu- 
pils), about  noon.  Stephen  Calvin  was  a  substan- 
tial farmer,  and  an  elder  in  Brainerd's  church. 
One  hundred  years  ago  his  dwelling  was  the  home 
of  genuine  Indian  hospitality ;  but  dwarf  pines  and 
scrub  oaks  have  so  reclaimed  their  occupancy  of 
the  soil,  that  Mr.  Miller  and  myself  found  only  an 
open  orchard  of  ancient  trees  to  indicate  the  exist- 
ence of  former  cultivation.  We  measured  some  of 
these  apple-trees,  and  found  them  more  than  six 
feet  in  circumference.  Having  taken  our  field  re- 
past under  the  most  ancient  tree,  and  possessed 
ourselves  of  a  living  limb  as  a  relic,  we  proceeded 
to  Brotherton,  one  mile  distant.  There  the  stump 
of  a  mammoth  oak  indicated  the  spot  where  stood 
the  ancient  Indian  sanctuary :  a  depression  in  the 
earth,  the  remains  of  a  former  cellar,  told  us  the 
spot  of  Brainerd's  own  dwelling.  A  modern  mill 
occupies  the  very  place  and  bears  the  name  of  the 
mill  erected  by  Brainerd's  Indians  a  century  gone 
by.  We  found  traditions  rife  there  of  the  piety 
and  labors  of  the  good  missionary;  and  aged  per- 
sons told  us  that  they  remembered  the  final  de- 
parture of  the  Indians  for  their  new  home  in  West- 
ern New  York. 

One  venerable  lady  said  she  remembered  well 
the  morning  of  their  exit.     Her  father  was  em- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  421 

Though  many  individual  Indians  still  linger  on 
Oneida  Reservation,  yet  about  1832,  most  of  these 
tribes  migrated  to  Green  Bay,  Michigan,  where  the 
Rev.  Cutting  Marsh*  labored  among  them,  with 
patience  and  some  success,  for  many  years.  They 
have  since  gone  still  farther  west:  their  present 
numbers  and  condition  we  are  unable  to  state. 

For  the  sake  of  justice  and  humanity,  for  the 
sake  of  the  good  men  who  gave  their  lives  and 

O  O 

labors  in  the  gospel  to  these  Indians,  as  well  as 
for  the  interest  of  this  narrative,  we  could  have 
hoped  a  better  fate  for  the  Indians  of  New  Jersey. 
Superficial  thinkers  might  regard  the  labors  of  the 
Brainerds,  the  Eliots,  the  Mayhews,  the  Kirklands, 
as  but  a  bubble  on  the  sea,  broken  and  perished 
forever;  but  this  would  be  a  grand  mistake.  God 
educates  present  generations  by  the  experiments 
of  the  past,  and  disciplines  his  servants  for  final 
victory  by  the  example  and  martyrdom  of  good 
men  in  other  ages.  David,  Elijah,  Isaiah,  Daniel, 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  Paul,  and  even  Christ  him- 

young  among  us,  for  it  held  out  the  promise  of  beautiful  baskets, 
tiny  snow-shoes,  cross-bows  and  arrows,  and  venison,  without  stint. 
I  have  doubtless  seen  some  aged  Indians  at  my  father's  fireside 
whom  John  Brainerd  had  instructed,  but  was  too  young  to  inquire 
about  the  matter.  I  may  say  that  these  Indian  visits  to  my  early 
home,  which  my  father  and  mother  always  welcomed,  left  on  my 
mind  a  pleasant  impression  of  Indian  character,  and  have  disposed 
me  through  life  to  lament  and  resent  their  wrongs.  We  hope  this 
volume,  if  it  does  nothing  higher,  will  help  to  freshen  the  memory 
of  the  good  man  who  gave  his  life-labors  and  patrimony  to  bless  and 
save  a  degraded  and  wronged  people. 

*  See  letter  of  Rev.  Cutting  Marsh,  Appendix  D, 
36* 


422  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

self,  labored  for  the  conversion  and  salvation  of 
cities  and  nations  which  have  long  since  perished 
from  the  earth.  Shall  we  hence  infer  that  their 
labors,  prayers,  and  tears  were  impertinent  and 
thrown  away?  No:  they  still  live;  not  in  the 
organized  existence  of  the  churches  they  planted 
or  the  nations  they  taught,  but  in  the  educated 
minds,  the  abiding  faith,  the  purified  hearts  of 
other  men,  of  later  times,  Christianized  by  their 
influence.  They  will  thus  live  in  the  final  faith 
and  hope  and  holiness  of  the  entire  race,  when 
God  shall  subdue  the  world  to  himself. 

Cross  weeks,  Bethel,  and  Brotherton,  like  Ephe- 
sus,  Antioch,  and  Thyatira,  have  lost  the  praying 
men  and  women  who  once  dwelt  there ;  but  these 
places  still  constitute  sacred  shrines  in  the  memory 
of  the  Church,  and,  by  the  recorded  history  of  the 
holy  men  who  labored  in  them,  will  to  the  end  of 
time  radiate  light  upon  the  world.  Henry  Martyn, 
Carey,  and  many  other  missionaries,  Robert  Hall, 
Thomas  Chalmers,  and  other  great  minds  of  earth, 
have  borrowed  inspiration  and  models  of  holy  living 
from  the  lives  and  labors  of  the  Brainerds  among 
the  pines  of  New  Jersey.  We  say  this  on  the  as- 
sumption that  the  religious  influence  exerted  by  the 
Brainerds  on  the  Delaware  Indians  has  been  effaced 
by  time  and  changes ;  but  we  are  not  obliged  to  con- 
cede all  this.  There  may  be  still  lingering  among 
the  posterity  of  these  Indians  in  the  far  West  a 
tradition  of  truth  and  holiness  from  the  teaching 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  423 

of  the  Brainerds  which,  like  "the  handful  of  corn 
in  the  earth  upon  the  top  of  the  mountains,"  shall 
finally  produce  fruit  "to  shake  like  Lebanon"  and 
fill  the  whole  earth.* 

*  See  Appendix  D. 


424  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XLIL 


MR.  BRAINERD  AS  A  DOMESTIC  MISSIONARY  AMONG  THE  WHITES  —  HIS 
LABORS  ABUNDANT  —  HIS  CHURCHES  AFTER  HIS  DEATH  ALLOWED  TO 
DECAY  —  HE  IS  STILL  REMEMBERED  IN  TRADITION  —  REV.  ALLEN  H. 
BROWN  —  MR.  BRAINERD  AS  A  TRUSTEE  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE  —  HIS 
ACTIVITY  AND  USEFULNESS. 


readers  have  seen  that,  in  all  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Brainerd,  with  an  apos- 
tolic zeal  and  self-denial,  preached  the  gospel 
among  the  whites  over  a  vast  neglected  region  of 
New  Jersey.  In  his  letter  to  Mrs.  Smith,  lie  says 
he  gave  every  alternate  Sabbath  to  his  Indians, 
and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  time  to  mission- 

i 

ary  labors  among  the  Pines  and  along  the  sea-shore. 
When  he  died,  his  labors  were  not  followed  up  by 
the  Presbyterians.  The  churches  he  built  fell  into 
decay,  or  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Methodists, 
who  began  to  occupy  the  ground  by  their  circuits 
and  travelling  preachers.  Early  settlers,  elevated 
by  the  gospel  and  prospering  in  their  affairs,  partly 
as  a  result  of  their  moral  improvement  through  Mr. 
Brainerd's  labors,  sold  out  to  strangers  of  a  more 
straitened  class,  and  sought  for  themselves  a  more 
fertile  soil  and  higher  social  privileges. 

As  a  result  of  these  causes,  little  comparatively 
remains  to  tell  of  the  martyr-labors  of  John  Brain- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  425 

erd,  save  the  forest  graves  of  his  church-yards,  the 
title-deeds  of  the  sites  where  he  erected  church- 
buildings,  the  congregations  of  other  denominations 
built  up  on  his  foundations,  and  the  traditionary 
recollections  of  him  as  a  holy,  benevolent,  untiring 
servant  of  God. 

Our  acquaintance  with  the  ancient  places  and 
names  of  New  Jersey  is  too  imperfect  to  follow 
him  in  his  journeyings  as  an  evangelist.  He  says 
he  had  seven  stated  preaching-stations,  or  fixed 
congregations.  In  his  letter  from  Trenton  to  Rev. 
Enoch  Green,  he  mentions  twenty  places  where  he 
occasionally  preached.  True,  his  brethren  of  that 
day  in  the  Synod  shared  in  his  spirit,  and  some- 
times came  to  his  aid  in  supplying  his  field.  With 
all  our  claims  for  modern  times,  it  is  still  true  that 
the  spirit  of  missions  never  glowed  more  warmly 
than  in  the  hearts  of  Brainerd's  companions.  They 
did  what  they  could  for  his  relief,  but  still  left  on 
his  shoulders  the  final  responsibility  of  supplying 
his  seven  congregations  in  addition  to  his  Indian 
church  at  Brotherton.  A  hundred  years  ago  a 
solitary  horseback  traveller,  grave,  prayerful,  and 
benevolent,  was  often  seen  among  the  Pines  hurry- 
ing to  some  preaching-place,  or  coming  back  from 
the  funeral  of  the  recent  dead.  He  was  for  a  time 
the  only  minister  of  Jesus,  and  for  years  and  years 
the  only  missionary  of  his  church,  in  that  wild  and 
extended  region.  No  wonder  that  even  now,  when 
for  a  long  time  competence,  education,  and  refine- 


426  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

ment  have  taken  the  place  of  the  poverty,  igno- 
rance, and  semi-barbarism  of  a  past  century, — no 
wonder  that  to  this  day  there  lives  in  tradition 
among  those  who  gather  around  village-hearths  in 
New  Jersey  the  memory  of  the  sainted  man  of  God 
who  came  unasked,  and  often  unpaid,  to  solemnize 
their  marriages,  to  sanctify  by  religious  services  the 
burial  of  their  dead,  to  set  up  their  family  altars, 
to  baptize  and  aid  in  the  training  of  their  children, 
and  who,  by  teaching  and  holy  example, 

"  Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way."* 

Any  life  of  John  Brainerd  would  be  imperfect 
which  did  not  allude  to  his  official  connection  with 
Princeton  College.  As  we  have  shown  elsewhere, 
the  college  originated  from  sympathy  with  the 
wrongs  of  his  beloved  brother,  and  to  sustain  prin- 
ciples common  to  the  brothers  and  the  theological 
party  with  which  they  were  identified.  He  looked 
to  it  to  train  the  ministers  whom  he  approved  and 
the  Indian  missionaries  to  carry  out  his  work.  He 

*  The  Rev.  Allen  H.  Brown,  of  the  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey, 
has  for  the  last  eighteen  years  been  employed  as  a  domestic  mission- 
ary on  the  very  field  where  John  Brainerd  once  labored,  with  a  zeal, 
activity,  and  self-denial  almost  equal  to  his  predecessor  of  a  past 
generation.  He  has  explored  vacant  districts,  hunted  up  the  sites  of 
ancient  churches,  planted  new  congregations  on  the  old  foundations, 
and  affectionately  and  reverently  recorded  what  he  could  gather  of  the 
history  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd.  He  has  kindly  sent  us  a  com- 
munication, which  embraces  almost  all  which  can  be  known  of  the 
labors  of  the  early  missionary  in  New  Jersey.  To  this  letter  we 
refer  our  readers:  it  will  richly  repay  perusal.  See  Appendix  E. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  427 

was  identified  with  it  from  the  outset.  The  men 
that  sustained  the  college  sustained  him.  The 
first  class  graduated  in  his  presence  in  1748,  and 
he  took  his  own  Master's  degree  from  it  in  1749. 
He  was  the  personal  and  intimate  friend  of  Jona- 
than Dickinson,  Aaron  Burr,  Jonathan  Edwards, 
Samuel  Davis,  Samuel  Finley,  and  John  Wither- 
spoon, — all  its  early  presidents  from  its  infancy  to 
its  full  maturity :  he  speaks  of  its  Commencements 
as  his  holidays  or  chief  festivals.  He  always 
alludes  to  it  with  respectful  affection,  and  reposes 
in  it  his  brightest  hopes.  These  hopes  time  has 
realized.  His  Indians  are  scattered  and  his  white 
churches  decayed ;  but  his  favorite  literary  institu- 
tion has  grown  stronger  and  stronger  through  a 
hundred  years,  and  has  a  bright  future  still  in  pros- 
pect. It  is,  then,  with  great  satisfaction  that  we  say 
of  Mr.  Brainerd,  as  a  trustee  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  that  he  was  eminently  zealous  for  its  pros- 
perity and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 
His  place  in  the  Board  was  seldom  vacant,  and  his 
influence  apparently  great.  At  an  early  day  he 
was  on  a  committee  to  draft  certain  by-laws ;  in 
1757,  a  member  of  the  committee  to  superintend 
all  matters  connected  with  the  college  buildings; 
in  1758,  he  was  a  successful  delegate  from  the 
trustees  to  secure  the  accession  of  President  Ed- 
wards; in  1759,  he  was  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee to  wait  on  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  to  invite  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  to  be- 


4z8  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

come  president  of  the  college ;  and  in  1763,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  to  arrange  the  terms  for  the 
purchase  of  land.  From  this  it  would  seem  that 
his  brethren  had  great  confidence  in  the  soundness 
of  his  judgment,  and  that  he  may  be  regarded  as 
one  among  the  far-seeing  and  philanthropic  Chris- 
tian men  who  aided  in  laying  the  foundation  and 
consolidating  the  prosperity  of  that  noble  institution. 
We  are  not  without  hope  that  the  present  volume, 
imperfect  as  it  is,  will  nevertheless  in  all  time  to 
come  find  a  welcome  place  on  the  shelves  of  Prince- 
ton Library,  and  be  cherished  by  an  institution 
which  enjoyed  in  its  infancy  the  benefit  of  the 
counsels  and  prayers  of  the  New  Jersey  mission- 
ary, John  Brainerd. 

Mr.  Brainerd's  office  as  trustee  terminated  only 
with  his  life.  His  successor,  Mr.  James  Boggs, 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  place  after  Mr.  Brainerd's 
death,  May  1,  1781.  The  popularity  of  the  In- 
dian mission  in  New  Jersey,  and  the  sympathy  of 
the  churches  with  David  Brainerd  and  his  brother, 
had  great  influence  in  Scotland  and  elsewhere  in 
securing  the  pecuniary  aid  essential  to  the  founda- 
tion and  early  usefulness  of  the  college. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  429 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

MR.  BRAINERD  AS  PASTOR  IN  DEEEFIELD — WHY  HE  WENT  THERE — 
HIS  PREDECESSORS— TRADITIONS  OF  HIS  LABORS — A  CASE  OF  DISCI- 
PLINE— HIS  INDIAN  WOMAN  BECKY — HIS  DEATH  AND  TOMBSTONE. 

1777-81. 

T17E  have  now  followed  John  Brainerd  to  the 
closing  years  of  his  ministry,  and  of  his  toil- 
spent  life.  He  had  schemed  and  planned  to  open 
a  wider  and  more  promising  missionary  field  in 
New  York  or  Ohio,  at  Onohquanga  or  Muskin- 
gum.  Baffled  and  shut  up  to  his  limited  flock 
at  Brotherton,  he  had  carefully  and  prayerfully 
done  all  that  could  be  done  to  protect,  elevate, 
and  save  his  Indian  congregation,  in  spite  of  the 
evil  influences  around  them.  He  had  magnified 
his  office  by  using  the  time  spared  from  his  Indian 
church  in  founding  some  seven  white  churches, 
and  preaching  at  twenty  out-stations  among  the 
whites  in  the  destitute  districts  of  New  Jersey. 

He  would  have  died  with  his  people,  but  war 
came,  and  a  British  army,  reckless  and  cruel, 
broke  in  upon  the  field  of  his  labors.  They  cap- 
tured Mount  Holly;  and,  to  mark  their  special 
vengeance  on  the  outspoken  and  active  patriotism 
of  the  pastor,  they  burnt  down  his  church^  and,  it 

37 


430  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

is  said,  also  his  dwelling.  As  Brotherton  was  but 
fifteen  miles  distant,  and  he  could  expect  no  mercy 
at  the  hands  of  British  or  Tories,  he  felt  justified 
in  retiring,  until  the  storm  was  past,  some  forty 
miles,  to  Deerfield,*  in  Cumberland  county.  He 
went  not  to  rest  there,  but  to  labor;  and  hence  he 
took  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  It  was 
his  final  field :  he  found  there  a  home  and  a  grave. 
Anxious  to  avail  ourselves  of  all  the  traditionary 
facts  concerning  Mr.  Brainerd  which  could  be  col- 
lected in  Deerfield,  we  addressed  a  letter  of  inquiry 
to  the  Rev.  R.  Hamill  Davis,  the  present  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Among  other  kind- 
nesses shown  us  in  the  preparation  of  this  work, 
is  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Davis : — 

"DEERFIELD,  March  15,  1861. 
"REV'D    AND    DEAR    SlR : 

"I  have  made  inquiry  of  a  number  of  aged  persons 
here  and  in  Bridgeton,  and  have  also  called  upon  two 

*  Deerfield,  in  Cumberland  county,  is  a  pleasant  village,  about 
thirty  miles  southeast  of  Philadelphia.  His  predecessor,  Rev.  An- 
drew Hunter,  was  ordained  September  4,  1746,  and  resigned  in  1760. 
Rev.  Enoch  Green  was  installed  June  9, 1767,  and  died  in  1776.  Rev. 
John  Brainerd  began  to  officiate  in  1777.  The  sessional  minute  of 
him  is  this:  "The  Rev.  John  Brainerd  took  charge  of  this  congre- 
gation in  1777,  and  during  his  ministry  several  additions  were  made 
to  the  church.  Mr.  Brainerd  departed  this  life  March  18, 1781,  much 
lamented." 

During  his  entire  ministry  war  was  raging.  Mr.  Hunter  in  four- 
teen years  had  added  five  to  the  church;  Mr.  Green,  in  nine  years, 
thirteen  only:  we  shall  not  be,  therefore,  surprised  that  during  the 
four  years  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  ministry  his  additions  to  the  church 
were  but  ten. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  431 

antiquarians  in  Bridgeton,  but  am  sorry  that  my  efforts 
have  been  so  fruitless.  Mrs.  Hood,  of  Bridgeton,  used 
to  recite  her  catechism  to  Mr.  Brainerd.  He  would 
sometimes  hear  the  children  recite  the  catechism  in  the 
church,  and  when  he  would  visit  the  families  he  would 
catechize  them  there.  There  is  one  old  lady,  a  Mrs. 
Thompson,  living  in  Bridgeton,  who  bears  the  reputation 
of  having  a  very  retentive  memory,  who  has  given  me  a 
few  facts  that  may  be  of  some  little  service  to  you.  I 
give  them,  as  near  as  I  can,  verbatim,  as  they  fell  from 
her  lips,  either  as  her  own  voluntary  remarks  or  in  reply 
to  inquiries  which  I  proposed.  I  think  you  may  rely 
upon  the  truthfulness  and  accuracy  of  her  statements. 
She  is  a  native  of  Deerfield,  and  has  frequently  heard 
her  parents  speak  of  Mr.  Brainerd.  Her  remarks  were 
substantially  as  follows.  I  give  them  in  the  order  in 
which  I  received  them,  though  they  may  be  a  little  in- 
coherent. 

"  Rev.  John  Brainerd  was  declining  in  health  when  he 
came  to  Deerfield.  He  left  a  widow  and  one  daughter, 
Mary  (by  a  former  wife),  who  afterwards  married  a  gen- 
tleman in  Burlington,  and  the  widow  Brainerd  went  to 
live  there  with  her.  He  was  a  man  of  amiable  dispo- 
sition, and  a  solemn  preacher.  Mrs.  Thompson  thinks 
that  he  was  never  installed  as  pastor  over  the  Deerfield 
church. 

"Mr.  Alfred  Davis,  descendant  from  one  of  the  oldest 
families  here,  confirms  the  statement  that  he  was  never 
installed,  and  says  the  reason  was  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  country  (it  being  in  Revolutionary  times).  There 
was  a  great  simplicity  in  Mr.  Brainerd's  style,  which  it 
was  supposed  he  had  acquired  by  giving  the  truth  in  a 
simple  way  to  the  Indians.  He  lived  and  died  in  the  old 
brick  parsonage,  opposite  the  site  of  the  present  parson- 


432  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

age.  He  died,  Mrs.  Thompson  thinks,  of  a  pulmonary 
affection. 

"He  was  very  retiring  in  his  habits.  He  came  to 
Deerfield  from  Egg  Harbor,  the  same  place  from  which 
his  immediate  predecessor,  Rev.  Enoch  Green,  came. 
He  was  considered  a  very  godly  man.  A  witty  woman 
of  Deerfield,  hearing  that  he  was  about  to  come  thither, 
made  the  remark  that  she  supposed  he  would  think  they 
would  need  to  be  taught  as  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  teach  the  Indians ;  and  that,  pointing  downwards,  he 
would  say,  l  Hell  down  there !'  and,  upwards,  4  Heaven 
up  there !'  He  brought  an  Indian  woman  with  him,  a 
very  pious  woman,  who  washed,  helped  in  the  house,  and 
would  spend  her  leisure  hours  in  making  baskets. 

"The  remains  of  John  Brainerd  repose  under  the 
church.  A  marble  slab  on  the  church-floor  marks  the 
spot,  from  which  I  copy  the  following  inscription: — 

"  '  Beneath  mouldereth  the  dust  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd.  Died 
March,  1781.' 

"Truly  and  respectfully, 

"R.  HAMILL  DAVIS." 

We  have  little  to  add  to  this  letter  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Davis.  Family  tradition  says  he  carried  to  Deer- 
field  with  him  an  Indian  servant-woman,  named 
Becky,  who  had  lived  in  his  family  many  years. 
She  was  a  pious,  godly  woman,  whose  sympathy 
and  prayers  cheered  the  depression  of  his  declin- 
ing health.  When  occasionally  her  female  friends 
from  Brotherton  came  to  see  her,  they  were  greatly 
distressed  by  being  obliged  to  sleep  on  a  feather- 
bed. Becky  was  energetic,  tidy,  and  skilful  as  a 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  433 

housekeeper,  and  much  respected  by  her  employer 
and  the  community  in  general. 

The  session-book  of  Deerfield  church  furnishes 
no  record  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  baptisms  or  marriages. 
Several  cases  of  discipline  are  recorded,  and  among 
these  one  so  characteristic  of  the  pastor  that  we 
give  it  in  a  note.* 

In  the  year  1840,  we  had  a  brief  interview  with 
the  widow  of  the  Rev.  Enoch  Green,  Mr.  Brainerd's 
predecessor  at  Deerfield.  She  was  very  aged,  but 
intelligent  and  communicative.  The  author's  name 

*  March  10,  1779. — Mrs.  R.,  apparently  in  a  fit  of  passion,  and  for 
some  slight  reason,  had  accused  Mr.  S.  of  cheating,  abuse  of  her  re- 
lations, hypocrisy,  falsehood,  &c.  Mr.  S.  brought  Mrs.  R.  before  the 
session  for  slander.  She  denied  that  she  had  uttered  some  of  the 
statements,  but  justified  herself  as  to  the  truth  of  the  others.  After 
a  long  trial,  the  session  (doubtless  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Brainerd) 
came  to  the  following  decision,  which  all  will  regard  as  frank,  wise, 
and  characteristic: — 

"  I.  That  Mr.  S.  docs  not  appear  to  be  guilty  of  the  first  and  second  charges  in  every 
particular;  but  we  think  he  ought  to  have  conducted  himself  with  more  prudence  and  ten- 
derness towards  his  aged  mother,  and  is  really  guilty." 

In  respect  to  the  rest  of  the  charges,  of  which  the  session  generally 
acquit  Mrs.  R.,  they,  nevertheless,  say : — 

"Although  the  session  wish  to  make  all  proper  allowance  for  human  frailty,  and  although 
Mrs.  R.  seems  to  have  believed  that  the  particulars  with  which  she  charged  Mr.  S.  were 
true,  yet  we  think  she  has  spoken  imprudently,  and  too  much  under  the  influence  of  pas- 
sion and  prejudice,  against  the  reputation  of  her  brother.  The  session  think  it  incumbent 
on  them  to  express  their  entire  disapprobation  of  her  conduct  in  this  regard. 

"  Upon  a  review  of  the  whole  case,  we  cannot  but  think  that  both  parties  are,  in  some 
respects,  censurable.  We  would  therefore  recommend  to  them  to  cultivate  peace  and  har- 
mony, as  becomes  Christians,  and  especially  those  who  sustain  so  near  a  relation  to  each 
other." — Detrfitld  Session-Boot. 

This  is  a  pretty  fair  specimen  of  ordinary  family  quarrels,  where 
both  parties  are  partly  right  and  partly  wrong  and  about  equally 
need  admonition  from  church  authority.  The  whole  proceedings  in 
Deerfield  are  marked  by  an  impartiality  and  faithfulness  creditable 
to  Mr.  Brainerd  and  his  elders. 

37* 


434  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

and  profession  induced  her  at  once  to  call  up  her 
early  acquaintance  with  John  Brainerd.  She  re- 
lated many  facts  concerning  him;  but,  as  I  had 
then  no  thought  of  ever  writing  his  life,  her  state- 
ments have  mainly  passed  from  my  recollection.  I 
distinctly  remember,  however,  that  she  spoke  of 
him  as  an  able  preacher,  a  most  faithful  pastor,  as 
a  man  of  warm  affections  and  eminent  personal 
holiness.  She  seemed  to  have  cherished  his  me- 
mory with  tenderness  and  reverence  for  half  a 
century.  At  the  same  time,  she  gave  me  an  inti- 
mation that  his  efficiency  in  Deerfield  was  hin- 
dered by  his  feeble  health  and  a  tendency  to  men- 
tal depression,  for  which  the  constitution  of  his 
family,  as  well  as  the  burdens  and  sorrows  of  his 
life,  fully  account.  In  Deerfield,  as  in  every  other 
place  where  he  labored,  John  Brainerd  not  only 
won  the  hearts  of  the  people,  but  enstamped  them 
with  a  holy  influence.  His  ashes  rest  in  the  aisle 
of  the  same  old  church  in  which  he  preached  the 
gospel  at  Deerfield. 

He  died,  aged  sixty-one,  in  the  dark,  and  stormy 
days  of  revolution  and  bloodshed.  He  was  not 
permitted  to  see  his  country  emerge  from  its  perils 
and  take  a  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
He  died,  remote  from  cities  and  crowds,  in  a  quiet 
village  and  among  plain  people,  and  at  a  period 
when  society,  struggling  for  national  life,  took 
little  account  of  the  fate  of  individuals.  No  ga- 
zette heralded  his  departure,  no  orator  gave  him 


436  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

MR.  BRAINERD'S  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT — HIS  DESCENDANTS — HIS 
PERSON  AND  MANNERS. 

1V/TR.  BRAINERD'S  last  "will  and  testament," 
•  which  we  have  transcribed  from  the  Clerk's 
Office  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  was  prepared  at  Deerfield 
in  March,  1780,  just  one  year  before  his  death. 
As  he  seems  to  have  written  it  himself,  and  as  it 
throws  light  on  his  state  of  mind  and  health,  his 
worldly  circumstances,  and  his  domestic  relations, 
we  insert  it  entire. 

yohn  BrainercPs  Will  and  Testament. 

In  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  as  one  that  must  give  an 
account, 

I,  John  Brainerd,  Minister  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
at  present  laboring  under  some  bodily  indisposition,  but, 
through  the  grace  of"  God,  blest  with  the  fullest  use  of 
reason,  for  which  I  bless  and  praise  God,  think  it  my  in- 
dispensable duty  to  Christ  and  my  family  to  signify  my 
will  in  writing. 

And,  first  of  all,  I  give  and  recommend  my  soul  into 
the  hands  of  God  in  and  through  Jesus  Christ,  firmly 
relying  on  his  name,  merits,  and  righteousness  for  par- 
don, justification,  and  eternal  life. 

The  body  I  commit  to  the  ground,  to  be  decently  in- 
terred only  at  the  discretion  of  my  executor  hereinafter 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  437 

named,  fully  expecting  to  receive  the  same  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  resurrection,  glorified  only  through  the  rich 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ. 

As  to  what  worldly  substance  God  has  seen  fit  to  intrust 
me  with,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  dispose  of  it  in  the  follow- 
ing manner: — 

i  st.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear,  well-beloved, 
and  faithful  wife,  Elizabeth  Brainerd,  all  that  part  of  my 
estate  that  was  hers  before  we  were  married,  and  that 
she  brought  with  her  in  consequence  of  our  marriage,  as 
also  my  silver  watch. 

2d.  I  put  all  the  rest  of  my  estate  into  her  hands,  as 
money  or  cash,  bills,  bonds,  certificates,  cattle,  horses, 
and  every  other  part  and  parcel  of  my  estate,  except  what 
will  by-and-by  be  mentioned,  not  to  be  aliened  or  given 
away,  but  which  may  be  sold  for  her  comfortable  sup- 
port during  her  state  of  widowhood ;  then  to  become  the 
property  of  my  dear,  well-beloved,  and  dutiful  daughter 
Mary  Ross,  wife  of  Maj.  John  Ross. 

3d.  I  do  now  give  and  bequeath  unto  this  my  only 
daughter  and  child  all  and  every  individual  thing  that 
came  to  me  by  her  mother,  as  also  the  bed  I  had  before 
I  was  married,  all  the  plate  marked  E.  L.,  together  with 
a  mustard-pot  and  pepper-box  not  marked  at  all,  as  also 
a  three-year-old  heifer  and  yearling  heifer.  My  books  I 
leave  with  my  wife  and  daughter,  to  be  disposed  of  as 
they  shall  agree  and  think  proper;  and  they  have  free 
liberty  to  sell  any  number  of  them  as  they  shall  choose. 
My  annuity  in  the  Widows'  Fund  at  Philadelphia  I  de- 
sire may  be  paid  only  to  my  wife,  that  she  may  enjoy 
the  whole  benefit  of  the  same. 

4th.  I  denominate  and  ordain  my  well-beloved  son-in- 
law,  Maj.  John  Ross,  to  be  my  sole  executor  of  this  my 
last  will  and  testament ;  and  do  hereby  empower  him  to 


438  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

sell  any  part  of  my  estate  at  vendue,  or  otherwise,  with 
the  advice  and  full  consent  of  my  above-mentioned  dear 
wife,  who  will  then  be  my  widow;  but  not  without. 

This  I  ratify  and  confirm  as  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, disannulling  all  others  by  me  at  any  time  made  or 
done. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  set  my  hand  and  affix  my  seal, 
this  2 ist  day  of  March,  1780. 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

In  presence  of 

EZEKIEL  FOSTER, 
EPHRAIM  FOSTER, 
JEREMIAH  FOSTER. 

From  this  "will"  we  draw  the  inference  that 
Mr.  Brainerd,  while  he  had  been  willing  to  labor 
hard  for  little  compensation  in  his  Master's  ser- 
vice, and  while  his  charities  to  his  Indians  had 
drawn  heavily  on  his  resources,  had,  nevertheless, 
managed  his  pecuniary  affairs  with  care  and  skill, 
so  that  he  had  always  been  able,  with  his  own 
patrimony  and  what  he  received  by  his  marriage 
connections,  to  live  genteelly  and  comfortably.  All 
received  by  his  first  marriage  he  leaves  to  his  only 
daughter  and  child  by  his  first  wife;  he  leaves  to 
the  second  wife  all  he  had  received  by  her;  and 
to  both  he  makes  such  addition  as  his  own  per- 
sonal estate  would  allow.  According  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  day,  he  seems  to  have  been  neither  rich 
nor  poor, — the  allotment  for  which  Agur  prayed, 
and  which  best  befits  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

His  wife,  Elizabeth  (Price)  Brainerd,  survived 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  439 

him  several  years,  residing  alternately  with  her 
step-daughter  at  Mount  Holly  and  with  her  own 
relatives  in  Philadelphia.  Between  her  and  her 
step-daughter  Mary,  the  only  surviving  child  of 
John  Brainerd,  there  seems  to  have  subsisted  a 
most  tender,  delicate,  and  permanent  affection, 
which  found  expression  in  constant  intimacy  and 
correspondence.  The  letters  of  the  daughter  to 
her  step-mother  are  marked  by  so  much  filial 
love,  piety,  taste,  and  refinement  of  feeling  as  to 
indicate  on  the  part  of  her  father  great  care  in 
her  training  and  an  excellent  parental  example: 
they  do  credit  alike  to  the  father,  mother,  and 
daughter.* 

Major  John  Ross,  who  married  the  only  daugh- 
ter of  John  Brainerd,  was  born  in  Mount  Holly, 
N.  J.,  1752,  and  died  there  in  1796.  March  13, 
1776,  he  was  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Third 
Regiment  of  New  Jersey  troops  of  the  Revolution- 
ary Army.  He  received  a  major's  commission 
April  7,  1779,  and  the  same  year  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Mary  Brainerd,  two  years  before  the 
death  of  her  father.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Society  of  Cincinnati,  and,  under 
Washington,  Collector  of  the  Revenue  for  Burling- 
ton county.  His  wife  died  at  Mount  Holly  in 
1792,  leaving  three  children.  Only  one  of  these 
— the  eldest,  Sophia  Marion — left  descendants. 

*  We  give  a  few  of  these  familiar  epistles  as  a  specimen.     See  Ap- 
pendix F. 


440  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

Sophia  Marion  Ross,  granddaughter  of  John 
Brainerd,  married  John  Lardner  Clark,  Esq.,  Au- 
gust 1,  1797.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Hon. 
Elijah  Clark,  of  Egg  Harbor,  the  warm  personal 
friend  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  and  elder  in  one 
of  Brainerd's  churches.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  a  colonel  in  the 
militia  of  New  Jersey  during  the  Revolutionary 
War.* 

Mrs.  Clark,  granddaughter  of  John  Brainerd,  had 
six  children,  only  two  of  whom  survive.  These 
are  Mrs.  Louisa  Vanuxem  Peacock,  widow  of 
James  Peacock,  Esq.,  late  of  Harrisburg,  and  Mrs. 
Emeline  Marion  Sims,  wife  of  John  Clark  Sims, 
an  original  proprietor  of  the  Philadelphia  Evening 
Bulletin,  and  now  Actuary  of  the  American  Insur- 
ance Company.  The  only  brother  of  these  ladies, 
Brainerd  Clark,  Esq.,  of  Mount  Holly,  N.  J.,  died 
several  years  since,  leaving  a  family.  These  three 
families  comprehend  the  entire  descendants  of  the 
subject  of  this  memoir.  We  have  named  them 

*  During  the  war,  Elijah  Clark  and  Richard  Westcott,  Esqs.,  built 
at  their  own  expense  a  small  fort  at  the  Fox  Burrows,  on  Chestnut 
Neck,  near  the  port  of  Little  Egg  Harbor,  and  bought  a  number  of 
cannon  for  the  defence  of  said  fort.  While  the  Revolutionary  Legis- 
lature was  in  session  at  Haddonfield,  in  September,  1777,  the  two 
branches  passed  a  resolution  for  paying  Clark  and  Westcott  four 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds  one  shilling  and  three  pence  for  this 
fort,  which,  we  are  told,  was  at  one  time  defended  by  fifteen  hundred 
of  the  Shore-men,  who,  upon  the  enemy  ascending  the  river  in  great 
force  in  barges,  evacuated  it.  The  good  people  of  Chestnut  Neck 
ought  to  mark  the  site  of  this  old  redoubt,  that  future  ages  may 
know  it. — Mickle's  History  of  Gloucester  County,  New  Jersey,  p.  80. 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  441 

freely,  for  they  are  of  a  character  and  position  to 
imply  no  discredit  to  their  ancestor.  Happily,  they 
need  no  letters  of  commendation  from  us;  but,  in 
justice  to  the  memory  of  John  Brainerd,  we  must 
express  our  satisfaction  that  his  religious  faith  and 
purity  of  life  have  so  richly  adorned  his  children 
and  his  children's  children. 

We  may  also  add,  that  our  personal  regard  for 
these  living  descendants  has  mingled  with  our 
reverence  for  the  dead  in  cheering  the  preparation 
of  this  volume.* 

From  all  we  can  learn  by  tradition  concerning 
Mr.  Brainerd's  person,  we  infer  that  he  was  tall  in 
stature,  large  in  frame,  and  active  in  his  move- 
ments. 

Rev.  Dr.  Field,  who  was  for  many  years  min- 
ister of  the  parish  in  which  Brainerd's  parents  re- 
sided, says,  "In  person,  John  Brainerd  was  rather 
tall." 

Mrs.  Hood  says  she  recollects  something  about 
his  person :  he  was  a  large-boned  man,  not  fleshy, 
a  little  above  the  medium  size.  From  our  know- 
ledge of  his  family,  we  incline  to  believe  that  the 
tradition  in  his  native  town  was  correct.  We  set 
him  before  us  as  a  tall,  dark-haired,  gray-eyed, 
heavy-browed,  grave,  sensitive,  sanguine,  and  rather 

*  From  Mrs.  J.  C.  Sims  and  her  intelligent  son,  Clifford  Stanley 
Sims,  Assistant  Paymaster  in  the  United  States  Army,  we  have  re- 
ceived assistance  indispensable  to  the  completion  of  this  book.  At 
our  earnest  request,  Mrs.  Sims  has  kindly  sent  us  a  sketch  of  her 
great-grandfather's  family.  See  Appendix  G. 

38 


442  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR Al 'NERD. 

timid  and  formal  man.  His  personal  manners  and 
habits  may  be  inferred  from  his  journal  and  corre- 
spondence. He  was  "a  man  always  conscious  of 
his  awful  charge."  A  little  more  flexibility,  cheer- 
fulness, and  unrestraint  would  have  left  a  more  ra- 
diant halo  over  his  memory;  but  these  were  not 
consistent  with  his  views  of  ministerial  holiness 
and  propriety. 

A  connection  of  Major  Ross'  family,  an  excellent 
member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  has  addressed  us 
the  following  note : — 

"DEAR  DR.  BRAINERD: — 

"Of  the  beautifully-good  pictures  that  hang  lon  me- 
mory's wall,'  I  could  not  say  that  your  kinsman  John 
Brainerd  exceeds  them  all.  The  impression  left  on  my 
mind  is,  he  was  far  too  good.  Letters  are  said  to  be 
characteristic ;  and  here,  perhaps,  we  have  them  in  sen- 
tences of  good  words  crowded  together  in  such  a  mass, 
that  you  have  to  wait  until  they  become  ancient  docu- 
ments to  appreciate  them. 

44  How  big  these  letters  were  with  thoughts  I  cannot 
say ;  but  we  distinctly  remember  in  early  youth  to  have 
heard  his  name  always  pronounced  with  reverence,  even 
while  perhaps  passing  one  or  another  of  his  epistles  from 
an  older  hand  to  the  blazing  hearth.*  It  seems  there 

*  It  was  the  office  of  the  lady  writer  of  the  above,  innocently,  but 
in  our  view  most  disastrously,  to  aid  in  consigning  the  manuscripts 
of  David  and  John  Brainerd,  which  had  long  reposed  in  a  garret  at 
Mount  Holly,  to  the  flames,  about  forty  years  ago.  Hinc  illce  lacrymcE ! 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  said  of  the  innocent  pet,  whose  gambols  had  upset 
his  ink  to  the  ruin  of  his  great  mathematical  researches  and  jottings, 
"0  Diamond!  thou  little  knowest  the  mischief  thou  hast  done." 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  443 

must  have  been  a  pent-up  sort  of  goodness  in  him,  so 
that  you  would  never  find  out  while  he  lived  how  good 
he  was.  His  only  daughter  was  very  dear  to  him,  but 
she  was  not  familiar  with  him ;  and  you  know  it  will 
be  so,  when  one  can  only  look  to  see  how  awful  good- 
ness is." 

This  is  not  flattering,  but  doubtless  expresses 
an  impression  prevailing  among  the  young  of  his 
generation  concerning  not  only  him,  but  other  dig- 
nified clergymen  of  his  day.  We  think  her  pic- 
ture is  too  deeply  shaded.  John  Brainerd's  fre- 
quent messages  from  his  little  daughter  to  Dr. 
Wheelock's  children,  and  the  fact  that  he  held  a 
pen  in  the  hand  of  his  infant  granddaughter  to 
announce  her  own  birth  to  the  grandmother,  show 
that  he  had  warm  affections,  and  some  playfulness 
in  his  disposition. 

Mrs.  Hood,  now  living  at  Bridgeton,  ninety-one 
years  old,  says  she  resided  in  Deerfield  until  her 
twentieth  year,  and  remembers  Mr.  Brainerd  as  a 
pastor. 

"He  was  much  given  to  speaking  to  children,  and 
would  take  much  notice  of  them  when  he  visited.  I 
thought  a  great  deal  of  him  when  I  was  a  little  girl,  be- 
cause he  used  to  speak  to  me  when  he  met  me." 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  personal  man- 
ners of  Mr.  Brainerd, — and  we  believe  they  were 
not  only  dignified,  but  attractive, — there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  bore  with  him  everywhere  a  tender, 
affectionate,  and  benevolent  heart.  By  his  breth- 


444  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

ren  he  was  called  the  "good  missionary"  and  "dear 
Mr.  Brainerd."  His  Indians  clung  to  him  with 
affectionate  attachment  to  the  last;  and  among 
the  aged  in  all  the  region  from  Mount  Holly  to 
the  seashore  his  name  is  still  familiar,  and  his 
memory  cherished  with  love  and  reverence. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  445' 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS   ON   MR.  BRAINERD's   LIFE   AND   LABORS. 

A  S,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  writer  could 
-^^  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Brainerd, 
and  as  this  volume  embraces  almost  every  item  of 
information  concerning  him  which  time  has  spared, 
the  author  has  little  advantage  of  his  readers  in 
forming  a  true  estimate  of  Mr.  Brainerd,  and  of  the 
value  of  his  services  to  the  Church  and  the  world. 
Those  who  read  the  book  will  draw  their  own  con- 
clusions. 

Was  his  life  a  success  or  a  failure?  He  had 
great  obstacles  to  encounter.  Not  alone  was  his 
little  Indian  flock  always  invaded  by  an  evil  in- 
fluence from  without,  but  his  pecuniary  means  for 
doing  good  were  always  limited.  In  New  York 
and  Virginia,  collections  for  missions  were  ob- 
structed by  law.* 

*  The  Eev.  Epher  Whitaker,  of  Southhold,  L.  I.,  under  date  of 
January  18,  1865,  gives  us  the  following  extract  from  the  records 
of  Suffolk  Presbytery,  L.  I.  :— 

"SMITH-TOWN,  L.  I.,  October  29,  1761. 

"  This  Presbytery  being  acquainted  with  an  order  of  Synod  (by  a  letter  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Simon  Morton,  of  Ne.v  Town),  enjoining  all  their  Presbyteries  to  make  a  publick  col- 
lection for  the  support  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brainerd,  missionary  among  the  Indians, — concluded 
that  we  cannot  safely  comply  with  that  order  of  Synod  in  promoting  such  a  contribution,  it 
being  (as  we  are  informed)  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  civil  Government  of  New  Turk, 
unless  a  Licente  or  Brief  be  first  obtain*  d  from  the  Governour  of  the  Province  for  the  furfcse." 

38* 


-446  LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

As  the  first  foreign  and  domestic  missionary 
sustained  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  land, 
he  had  to  strike  out  a  new  path,  with  no  opportu- 
nity to  avail  himself  of  the  observations  or  expe- 
rience of  others.  The  arrangements  for  his  sup- 
port were  inchoate,  unreliable,  and  stinted.  He 
lived  in  a  time  of  public  turmoil  and  revolution. 
He  was  alone  as  a  foreign  and  domestic  mission- 
ary in  a  field  which  required  the  united  and  steady 
exertions  of  half  a  dozen  preachers  of  the  gospel. 
That,  in  spite  of  all  this,  he  was  able  to  found  a 
colony  of  Indians  at  Brotherton,  give  them  the 
appointments,  comforts,  and  religious  privileges 
of  a  Christian  town,  without  government  aid,  to 
shelter  a  Christian  church  there  to  his  death,  and 
at  the  same  time  hold  up  seven  churches  among 
the  destitute  whites,  marks  a  life  of  eminent  suc- 
cess as  well  as  piety. 

Despairing  of  his  ability  to  elevate  a  small  In- 
dian community,  surrounded  by  a  broad  waste  of 
practical  heathenism  among  the  whites,  he  bravely 
undertook  to  grasp  all  in  the  arms  of  Christian 
love,  and  lift  them — as  Peter  saw  the  sheet  raised 
by  its  four  corners — towards  heaven.  It  was  a 
noble  idea,  well  essayed,  and  successful  to  a  mar- 
vel. He  did  not  accomplish  all  he  desired  and 


"HUNTINGDON,  L.  I.,  October  27,  1762. 

"  Another  letter  received  from  the  Clerk  of  the  Synod,  bearing  date  May  n,  1761,  en- 
joyning  us  by  Synodical  authority  to  propose  collections  for  the  support  of  the  Indian  mis- 
sions. We  cannot  think  it  safe  to  comply  with  the  exjunction,  for  the  reasons  given  in  the 
minutes  of  October  27,  1761.'" 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BR4INERD.  447 

attempted;  but  lie  evangelized  a  field  so  broad, 
".o  difficult,  and  so  poor,  that  when  he  ascended  to 
heaven  there  was  no  one  bold  enough  and  bene- 
volent enough  to  assume  his  mantle. 

In  the  result  of  his  labors  for  the  poor  Indians 
is  there  aught  to  discourage  the  Church?  No- 
thing whatever.  Notwithstanding  the  ravages  of 
war  and  sinful  temptation,  the  Indian  church  at 
Brotherton,  at  the  death  of  John  Brainerd,  em- 
braced by  one  account  one-seventh,  by  another 
one-third,  of  the  entire  population.*  This  is,  pro- 
bably, as  large  a  proportion  as  is  found  to-day  in 
Princeton  or  Hah  way,  N.  J.,  or  Northampton,  Mass. 
His  people  had  farms,  dwellings,  orchards,  a  mill, 
a  schoolhouse,  and  a  church.  They  had,  it  is  true, 
among  them  idleness,  intemperance,  and  profligacy ; 
but  these  are  not  peculiar  to  Indian  neighborhoods. 

It  is  time  an  avowal  should  be  made,  to  the 
credit  of  the  Indians  and  for  the  encouragement 
of  their  friends,  that  our  aborigines  have  always 
shown  a  readiness  to  receive  the  gospel  and  adopt 
habits  of  civilization  when  they  were  understood 
and  proper  agents  employed.  It  is  known  that 
Eliot  and  his  companions  in  Massachusetts,  Hor- 
ton  on  Long  Island,  Stewart  among  the  Mohawks, 
Kirkland  among  the  Oneidas,  the  Brainerds  with 
the  Delawares,  the  Moravians  in  New  York,  Ohio, 
and  Canada;  Blackburn,  Byington,  and  Worcester 
among  the  Choctaws  and  Cherokees,  and  Gleason 

*  See  remarks  on  Rankin's  Journal,  pp.  405,  406. 


448  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAIN ERD. 

and  Wright  among  the  Tuscaroras,  have  all  and 
everywhere  met  with  encouragement  in  their  la- 
bors. Indian  schools  have  been  generally  well 
filled  by  young  sons  of  the  forest.  At  Lebanon 
and  Cornwall,  Conn.,  Fort  Hunter  and  Oneida, 
N.  Y.,  Great  Crossings,  Ky.,  Brainerd,  Tenn.,  in 
former  days  Indian  youth  gathered  by  hundreds, 
all  eager  to  study.  The  same  may  be  said  of  mo- 
dern mission-schools  among  the  Indian  tribes  of 
New  York  and  the  far  West.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Bis- 
sell,  who  has  a  seminary  at  Twinsburgh,  Ohio,  was 
invaded  by  scores  of  young  Indians,  who  came 
voluntarily  from  the  forest  to  ask  an  education.* 

Dr.  Wheelock  and  John  Brainerd,  indeed,  com- 
plain of  the  conduct  of  their  educated  pupils  with 
much  feeling;  but  we  must  remember  that  hitherto 
an  educated  Indian  has  had  no  status  in  society. 
He  has  been  a  kind  of  hermaphrodite, — too  ele- 
vated for  his  forest  companions,  and  excluded  by 
his  caste  from  good  society  among  the  whites. 
What  else  could  we  expect  but  the  ruin  of  the 
majority?  And  yet  among  Wheelock's  and  Brain- 
erd's  pupils  we  find  Occum  preaching  in  London; 
Brandt  a  royal  officer  with  epaulets ;  Woolley,  Fow- 
ler, and  H.  Calvin  instructors;  and  B.  S.  Calvin 
training  a  Christian  family  in  the  West,  and  coming, 
at  seventy-six  years  of  age,  a  venerable  chief,  to 
negotiate  successfully  for  the  rights  of  his  people 
with  the  government  of  New  Jersey. 

*  See  Rev.  Mr.  Bissell's  letter,  Appendix  H. 


LIFE    OF  JOHN  BR4INERD.  449 

More  cases  might  be  cited ;  but  these  are  enough 
to  show  that,  in  proportion  to  the  number  edu- 
cated, as  many  Indian  pupils  became  prominent 
as  among  white  students  in  our  academies.  The 
Indians,  we  affirm,  have  readily  received  the  gos- 
pel and  improved  opportunities  for  literary  instruc- 
tion. Why,  then,  have  the  Indian  nations  per- 
ished and  their  churches  died  out?  We  answer, 
briefly,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  nourish 
the  virtues  which  cluster  around  a  fixed  home  and 
neighborhood  while  men  are  frequently  rooted  up 
and  forced  from  state  to  state.*  It  is  difficult  to 
impart  industry,  economy,  and  a  disposition  to  lay 
up  wealth  to  a  people  whom  the  violent  can  out- 
rage without  punishment,  and  the  cunning  defraud 
without  compunction  or  infamy.  It  is  not  easy  to 
persuade  a  feeble  minority  to  adopt  the  religion 
and  modes  of  a  superior  race  and  at  the  same 
time  avoid  the  contagion  of  their  vices.  It  is 
hopeless  to  endeavor  to  create  an  ambition  for 
education,  taste,  refinement,  and  elevated  charac- 
ter among  a  people  when  they  perceive  that  the 
possession  of  all  these  fails  to  shelter  them  from 
our  indifference,  injustice,  and  social  contempt.  If 
this  has  been  the  allotment  of  the  poor  Indian  in 
the  presence  of  a  proud  and  grasping  race,  we 
must  not  wonder  that  missionary  effort  has  failed 
to  protect  Indian  nations  and  churches.f 

*  See  Appendix  I. 

f  See  Appendix  (I),  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  pp.  397,  398. 
38* 


450  LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD. 

If  Mr.  Brainerd,  by  the  grace  of  God,  was  en- 
abled to  protect  his  Indian  church  in  its  integrity 
until  he  was  driven  from  it ;  if,  besides  this,  for  a 
score  of  years  he  was  permitted  to  keep  a  wild 
region  of  country  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel, 
and,  dying,  to  bequeath  to  posterity  a  reputation 
which  has  stimulated  the  faith  and  activity  of  the 
Church  for  a  hundred  years,  then  his  life  was  not 
a  failure. 

If  human  life  in  its  real  value  is  properly  mea- 
sured by  its  holy  and  generous  impulses  and  emo- 
tions ;  if  virtue  is  to  be  estimated  by  what  it  will 
sacrifice  and  endure  for  the  right;  if  rewards  are 
finally  imparted  according  to  aims  and  endeavors 
of  usefulness;  if  the  beatitudes  of  Christ  rest  on 
such  as  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness ;  if 
charity  is  rated  by  the  depth  of  its  condescension 
to  the  low,  the  patience  of  its  toleration  of  the  igno- 
rant, and  its  adhesiveness  to  the  well-being  of  the 
unthankful  and  unworthy ;  then  few  men  have  ever 
transcended  John  Brainerd  in  worth  or  usefulness. 
All  his  intercourse  with  his  brethren  and  society 
at  large  seems  to  have  been  regulated  by  a  sense 
of  duty  and  self-respect;  and  his  letters  indicate, 
on  his  part,  a  careful  compliance  with  the  customs 
of  good  society  and  the  obligations  and  courtesy 
of  a  true  gentleman.  The  proprieties  of  place,  per- 
sons, position,  and  circumstances,  no  inattention 
nor  rudeness  ever  allow  him  to  forget  or  neglect. 

His  writings,  in  style  and  finish,  compare  favor- 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  BRAINERD.  451 

ably  with  those  of  his  cotemporaries  one  hundred 
years  ago.  He  aimed  at  no  display  of  talent  or 
learning.  He  seems  to  have  been  too  busy  to 
meddle  with  mere  metaphysical  theories,  and  too 
conscientious  to  absorb  time  and  thought  on  belle- 
lettres  diversions  in  the  regions  of  imagination 

o  o 

and  taste.  Governed  himself  by  truth  and  duty, 
he  may  have  erred  in  supposing  that  these  alone 
would  govern  others ;  and  he  may  thus  have  failed 
in  reaching  and  moulding  certain  classes  of  minds. 
We  think  he  was  defective  in  this  respect. 

In  addition  to  this,  we  see  some  evidence  that 
his  caution  and  prudence  bordered  on  indecision; 
his  modesty  on  timidity.  His  tendency  in  this 
direction  may  have  been  confirmed  by  his  insula- 
tion in  the  wilderness,  his  labors  with  the  ignorant, 
and  his  dependence  on  church-charities  for  his  sal- 
ary. Thus,  his  keen  sensibility  and  high  moral 
standard,  joined  with  imperfect  success  in  his  work, 
made  him  dissatisfied  with  himself,  and  left  bolder, 
more  obtuse  and  reckless,  but  less  worthy  men  to 
execute  schemes  which  his  piety  had  planned  and 
his  prayers  sanctified. 

We  have  sought  in  vain,  in  his  life,  the  traces 
of  unkindness  towards  a  human  being:  he  was 
involved  in  no  contentions;  he  mixed  in  no  con- 
troversies; he  is  carried  away  by  no  fanatical  de- 
lusions; he  rides  no  theological  nor  ecclesiastical 
hobbies;  he  gives  no  token  of  exasperated  feel- 
ing, permanent  or  transient;  he  develops  no  emo- 


452  LIFE    OF  JOHN  BRAINERD. 

tions  of  jealousy  nor  envy  towards  his  brethren  who 
basked  in  sunshine,  nor  contempt  for  those  in  the 
shade :  he  was  a  lover  of  all  good  men  and  good 
objects,  and  seems  to  have  hated  nothing  but  sin. 
He  was  a  holy  man  of  God;  and  his  whole  life 
bears  testimony  to  his  sympathy  with  suffering 
humanity. 

"And,  lo!   that  withering  race,  who  fade  as  dew  'neath  summer's 

ray, 

Who,  like  the  rootless  weed,  are  tossed  from  their  own  earth  away ; 
Who  trusted  to  a  nation's  vow,  but  found  that  faith  was  vain, 
And  to  their  fathers'  sepulchres  return  no  more  again : 
Long  did  thine  image  freshly  dwell  beside  their  ancient  streams, 
Or  mid  their  wanderings,  far  and  wide,  did  gild  their  alien  dreams ; 
For  Heaven  to  their  sequestered  haunts  thine  early  steps  did  guide, 
And  the  Delaware  hath  blessed  thy  prayer  his  cabin-hearth  beside ; 
The  Indian  orphan  meekly  breathed  his  sorrows  to  thine  ear, 
And  the  lofty  warrior  knelt  him  down  with  strange,  repentant  tear." 

In  reviewing  what  can  be  known  of  his  life,  we 
are  unable  to  fix  our  eye  on  a  prominent  moral  de- 
fect. He  seems  to  have  made  duty  his  standard, 
and  Christ  his  model;  and,  though  he  doubtless 
fell  short  in  many  things,  we  are  unable  to  see  in 
what,  and  when,  and  where  he  failed.  The  spirit 
of  all  he  wrote,  as  well  as  the  record  of  all  his 
words  and  acts,  confirm  the  tradition  in  his  native 
town,  that  "  he  was  as  holy  a  man  as  his  brother 
David;"  and  to  have  equalled  in  holiness  his  emi- 
nent brother  implied  an  excellence  seldom  found 
on  earth. 

The  holiness  of  his  character,  rather  than  an 
admiration  of  his  greatness,  induced  the  prepara- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN  BRAINERD.  453 

tion  of  this  volume ;  and,  in  closing  it,  we  have 
a  solid  satisfaction  in  having  recalled  such  an  ex- 
ample of  moral  purity  and  worth  to  the  gaze  and 
the  imitation  of  present  and,  we  trust,  future  gene- 
rations. We  can  hardly  hope  by  this  book  to  make 
bad  men  good,  for  they  will  see  little  beauty  or  at- 
traction in  such  a  man  and  such  a  life ;  but  we  shall 
be  greatly  disappointed  if  the  example  of  John 
Brainerd  fail  to  make  good  men  better. 


39 


APPENDIX. 


Letter  of  Rev.  Joseph   G.  Symmes,  of  Cranberry,  JV.  J.,  concerning 

Bethel,  the  former  Indian  town  in  his  neighborhood  (see  pp.  107, 

419):— 

CRANBERRY,  N.  J.,  August  27,  1864. 
REV.  THOMAS  BRAINERD,  D.D.: — 

DEAR  SIR: — You  came  thirty  years  too  late  to  collect  accurate  in- 
formation from  the  people  with  reference  to  the  labors  of  the  Brain- 
erds  among  the  Indians  in  this  vicinity.  Those  who  possessed  such 
information  have  passed  away ;  and  all  that  remains  consists  of  the 
traditions  of  a  former  generation,  always  inaccurate  in  some  points. 
But  such  traditions  abound  among  us ;  and  perhaps  it  would  be  well 
to  put  some  of  them  upon  record.  Some  of  them  assert  very  defi- 
nitely that  under  an  old  elm-tree,  now  standing  at  the  north  end  of 
our  village,  Brainerd  was  accustomed  to  gather  his  Indians  for  the 
worship  of  God.  It  is  not  stated  which  one  of  the  Brai nerds  it  was; 
but,  as  it  was  probably  before  the  Indian  settlement  at  Bethel,  it 
would  seem  to  have  been  David. 

Concerning  the  location  of  the  Indian  town  of  Bethel  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  It  lies  to  the  northeast  of  the  village  of  Cranberry,  a 
little  more  than  two  miles  away  in  a  straight  line,  which  is  the  Indian 
line.  It  is  about  one  mile  to  the  west  of  Old  King  George's  Eoad. 
You  remarked,  once,  that  your  only  doubt  about  this  being  the  loca- 
tion was  in  its  distance  from  a  stream  of  water.  But  the  Indian 
Field,  as  it  has  long  been  called,  lies  on  a  small  stream  of  never- 
failing  water,  supplied  by  two  or  three  springs ;  and  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  Field  there  is  a  dam  that  has  been  from  two  to  six  feet 
high,  and  wide  enough  to  permit  a  wagon  to  pass.  It  is  still  in 
existence,  and  is  called  Beaver  Dam,  but  was  probably  built  by  the 
Indians.  This  would  have  given  them  a  large  pond  of  clear  water. 
The  space  once  occupied  by  the  pond  was  long  mowed  for  hay,  bu* 

455 


456  APPENDIX. 

is  now  a  waste.  Besides  this  dam,  there  are  a  few  old  apple-trees  to 
mark  the  locality  ;  they  are  said  to  be  the  remains  of  an  orchard 
planted  by  the  Indians.  They  stand  scattered  over  the  ground  in 
such  a  manner  as  indicates  that  they  were  never  planted  in  regular 
order.  They  seem  to  be  natural  fruit ;  but  some  of  them  still  yield 
a  very  good  apple.  Some  of  the  oldest  people  around  say  there  was 
a  large  orchard  there  when  they  were  young,  which  was  a  great  resort 
of  the  school-children.  The  grounds  are  now  under  cultivation,  and 
the  soil  is  such  as  could  be  made  very  productive. 

There  are  old  burial-grounds  in  various  localities  around;  but 
they  are  falling  into  neglect,  and  the  traces  of  them  will  soon  dis- 
appear altogether.  There  are  still  some  mementos  preserved  of  those 
who  were  once  possessors  of  this  soil ;  but,  as  they  were  crowded  out 
of  their  possessions  by  their  greedy  white  brethren,  they  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  their  memory  is  rapidly  fading  away 
from  the  minds  of  the  living.  We  should  rejoice  in  every  effort,  such 
as  yours,  to  rescue  that  memory  from  oblivion,  and  especially  such  as 
record  the  labors  made  to  save  the  sons  of  the  forest  from  the  march 
of  our  civilization, — labors  which,  though  their  direct  fruits  have  per- 
ished, will  yet  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JOSEPH  G.  SYMMES. 


B. 

David  and  John  Erainerd's  Journeys  in  Pennsylvania  (see  p.  195). 
REV.  THOS.  BRAINERD,  D.D. 

DEAR  SIR: — In  compliance  with  your  wish,  I  will  endeavor  to 
give  you  all  the  information  I  possess  relative  to  localities,  in  order 
to  discriminate  the  travels  of  the  Rev.  David  Brainerd  when,  in  1743 
or  1744,  he  visited  the  Forks  of  Delaware,  with  the  view  of  preach- 
ing to  a  number  of  Indians  residing  there.  In  his  journal  he  men- 
tions but  very  few  places,  and  such  as  are  mentioned  cannot  be  re- 
cognized by  the  general  reader.  In  the  year  1849,  I  commenced 
forming  a  collection  of  historical  facts  of  Northampton  county,  Pa., 
and  Mr.  Brainerd's  stay  in  the  Forks  consequently  had  the  requisite 
attention  paid  to  it  which  it  deserved.  We  learn  from  his  journal 
that  on  the  10th  of  May,  1743,  he  left  Kanaumeek ;  after  travelling 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  he  arrived  at  the  Minnisinks.  This 
name  implies  the  country  belonging  to  and  inhabited  by  the  Monsey 
or  Minsi  Indians,  who  were  one -of  three  nations  of  Indians  that 


APPENDIX. 


457 


formed  the  so-called  Delaware  Indians.  This  country  was  north- 
ward of  the  Blue  or  Kittatinny  Mountains,  and  included  within  its 
limits  the  country  adjoining  that  mountain  on  the  north  side  of  it, 
near  one  hundred  miles  northeastward  and  southwestwardly.  The 
town  of  Stroudsburg,  in  Monroe  county,  is  in  the  Minnisink  country ; 
and  it  was  about  twenty  miles  above  this  town  that  Mr.  Brainerd 
met  with  the  Indians  and  conversed  with  them  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  The  path  or  road  over  which  Mr.  Brainerd  passed  was  the 
general  thoroughfare  from  Philadelphia  to  Albany,  the  nearest  route 
between  those  cities,  and  much  frequented  by  travellers.  The  path 
commenced  at  or  near  the  Hudson  River,  at  Kingston,  thence  up  the 
Esopus  Creek,  and  down  the  Machemack  Creek  to  the  river  Dela- 
ware, which  it  crossed  seven  miles  above  Mitford,  in  Pike  county, 
and  continued  westwardly  along  the  Blue  Mountain  to  near  the 
Delaware  Water  Gap,  thence  to  near  Bethlehem,  where  it  crossed  the 
Lehigh  River,  and  then  in  a  nearly  southwardly  course  to  Philadel- 
phia. Mr.  Brainerd  continues,  and  says: — 

"On  May  13,  1743,  I  arrived  at  a  place  called  by  the  Indians 
'Sakauwatung,'  within  the  Forks  of  Delaware;"  the  meaning  of  this 
Indian  name  is  "the  mouth  of  a  creek,  where  some  one  resides." 
This  creek  is  now  called  Allegheny  Creek.  It  was  here  where  Alex- 
ander Hunter  lived :  he  had  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  a  ferry  across  the  Delaware  River.  The  farm  and  ferry  at  pre- 
sent are  owned  and  occupied  by  a  member  of  the  Aten  family.  It  is 
in  Upper  Mount  Bethel  township,  Northampton  county,  about  three 
miles  east  of  the  town  of  Richmond.  Mr.  Hunter  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  this  part  of  the  country, — he,  with  about  thirty  other 
families,  arriving  hero  from  the  north  of  Ireland  in  1730.  For  many 
years  it  was  called  Hunter's  Settlement.  There  was  another  Irish 
settlement  ne:>r  the  Lehigh  River,  fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  westward, 
which  was  known  as  Craig's  Settlement.  These  two  named  persons 
were  the  leaders  or  most  prominent  amongst  them,  and  both  of  them 
appointed  justices  of  the  peace  in  1748.  It  appears  from  Mr.  Brain- 
erd's  journal  that  he  had  his  home  with  Mr.  Hunter  until  November 
23,  1744,  when  he  took  possession  of  a  cottage  mentioned  thus:  "He 
[Brainerd],  with  the  help  of  others,  made  a  little  cottage  to  live  in 
by  himself."  This  cottage  was  within  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  of 
an  Indian  town,  the  Indian  name  of  which,  as  Count  Zinzendorf,  the 
Moravian  bishop,  informs,  was  Clistowacki,  meaning  "  fine  land." 
The  count  visited  those  Indians  in  August,  1741.  Mr.  Brainerd 
alludes  to  this  Indian  village  very  frequently,  as  being  three  miles 
down  the  river  from  Mr.  Hunter's.  In  the  year  1849,  I  visited  the 

39* 


458  APPENDIX. 

place  where  the  cottage  of  Mr.  Brainerd  had  stood :  the  land  then 
belonged  to  an  old  gentleman  named  Baker,  whose  wife  was  the 
daughter  of  Abraham  Hubler,  the  purchaser  of  this  land  in  1790. 
Mrs.  Baker  informed  me  that  her  father  for  many  years  had  kept  in 
good  repair  a  fence  around  the  Indian  burying-ground,  near  to  where 
the  Indian  cabins  had  been,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Brainerd's 
cabin,  and  that  he  never  would  permit  the  grounds  to  be  ploughed, 
or  otherwise  made  use  of.  She  pointed  out  to  me  the  spot  where  the 
cabin  or  cottage  had  stood  ;  and  a  well  that  Brainerd  had  dug  near 
the  cabin,  she  said,  had  remained  open  until  a  few  years  ago,  when  it 
was  filled  up  with  stones.  The  cabin  was  about  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  Delaware  River,  and  about  one  mile  above  the  junction  of 
the  Martin's  Creek  with  the  river  Delaware :  there  is  a  beautiful  level 
tract  of  about  three  hundred  acres  of  land  here,  and  of  an  excellent 
quality.  Mr.  Brainerd  frequently  visited  at  Craig's  Irish  settlement, 
distant  fifteen  miles.  The  road  to  this  settlement  passed  very  near  to 
the  Moravian  town,  called  Nazareth.  At  Craig's  Settlement  they  had 
a  small  church,  and  a  preacher,  who  was  also  the  schoolmaster.  On 
the  9th  of  September,  1744,  Mr.  Brainerd  set  out  on  his  second  jour- 
ney towards  Susquehanna  River;  and  he  informs  us  in  his  journal 
that  he  directed  his  course  towards  the  Indian  town  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  westward  from  the  Forks.  This  Indian 
town  was  called  Shamokin,  and  was  situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
north  and  west  branches  of  the  Susquehanna,  where  Sunbury  now 
is,  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles  above  Harrisburg,  and  near  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles  from  his  cabin  in  Lower  Mount  Bethel  town- 
ship. The  path  over  which  he  passed  (accompanied  by  his  inter- 
preter, Moses  Fonda  Tetamy)  was  very  bad,  and,  in  passing  over  the 
numerous  mountains  in  the  present  Schuylkill  county,  actually  dan- 
gerous. They  passed  over  the  Blue  Mountain  in  Bethel  township, 
Berks  county,  on  the  Indian  path  that  led  direct  from  Philadelphia, 
passing  near  to  Reading  in  that  county.  Upon  his  return,  Mr. 
Brainerd  proceeded  down  the  Susquehanna  River  to  the  junction  of 
the  Juniata  River,  a  distance  of  about  forty-five  miles.  Here,  upon 
an  island  called  Duncan's  Island,  he  met  with  a  large  number  of 
Indians.  He  passed  Craig's  Settlement  fifteen  miles  westward  of  his 
house  in  Mount  Bethel,  on  his  homeward  journey. 

In  1749,  Rev.  John  Brainerd  visited  the  Moravian  Indian  town, 
called  Gnadenhutten  (meaning  "Tents  of  Grace").  It  was  situated 
three  miles  below  the  present  county  town  of  Carbon  county,  called 
Mauch  Chunk,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  river  Lehigh,  on  the 
Mahoning  Creek.  This  Moravian  town  was  laid  out  in  1746,  and 


APPENDIX. 


459 


in  1749  had  near  four  hundred  Indians  living  in  it.  In  proceeding 
there,  Mr.  Brainerd  passed  the  Blue  Mountain  at  a  small  gap,  called 
Smith's  Gap,  seven  miles  westward  of  the  Wind  Gap.  About  two  or 
three  miles  from  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  on  the  north  side,  was  an 
Indian  town,  called  Menislagamikessuk ;  the  Moravians  preached 
here  regularly,  and  in  1755,  when  the  Indian  wars  commenced,  these 
inhabitant  Indians  removed  to  Gnadenhutten. 

Gnadenhutten  was  destroyed  by  hostile  Indians  on  the  24th  of 
November,  1755,  and  eleven  of  the  missionaries  and  their  wives 
murdered.  In  January,  1756,  Benjamin  Franklin,  by  order  of  the 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  erected  a  fort,  called  Fort  Allen,  upon 
the  spot  where  the  town  had  stood.  The  well  in  the  fort  is  yet  to  be 
seen. 

M.  S.  HENBY, 
Historian  of  Lehigh  Valley. 


c. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Cutting  Marsh,  on  the  present  condition  of  the  Delaware 
Indians  and  their  traditions  of  the  Brainerd  brothers  (see  p.  421). 

WAUPACA,  WAUPACA  COUNTY,  Wis.,  July  1,  1864. 
THOMAS  BKAINEBD,  D.D. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIB: — Yours  of  May  22d,  together  with  one  from 
the  Rev.  David  Greene  on  the  same  subject,  were  duly  received.  I 
was  glad  to  see  the  handwriting  of  the  Rev.  D.  Greene,  my  former 
kind  and  faithful  correspondent  whilst  laboring  amongst  the  Stock- 
bridge  Indians ;  and  I  distinctly  remember  your  countenance  when  you 
alluded  to  our  student-days,  in  1828,  at  Andover.  Oh,  how  do  years 
dwindle  to  a  mere  point  in  the  retrospect !  But  I  did  not  know,  pre- 
vious to  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  that  you  were  a  relative  of  the  mis- 
sionary Brainerds.  Their  names  are  still  engraved  upon  the  memo- 
ries of  the  living,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  time  and  death. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  your  letter  I  wrote  to  a  Delaware  woman, 
who  lives  with  a  small  remainder  of  the  Stockbridges  in  an  adjoin- 
ing county,  as  I  knew  that  she  could  furnish  me  with  more  informa- 
tion upon  the  subject  you  desired  than  any  other  person  living  with 
whom  I  am  acquainted.  But  my  letter  was  detained  a  long  time  in 
some  post-office,  which  is  the  reason  you  have  not  had  an  answer 
sooner:  hers  has  just  come  to  hand.  The  mention  of  the  names  of 
the  missionary  Brainerds,  and  that  they  had  relatives  still  living, 
seemed  to  touch  a  slumbering  chord,  which  sweetly  vibrated  in  her 


460  APPENDIX. 

bosom.  That  woman  was  hopefully  converted  under  my  preaching, 
and,  although  beset  with  many  trials  and  surrounded  by  numerous 
discouragements,  still  gives  evidence  of  being  a  new  creature  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Her  father,  it  seems,  had  told  his  children  much  about 
the  Brainerds ;  and  I  remember  that  he  used  to  speak  of  them  with 
lively  interest  and  great  respect. 

He  was  converted  under  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Jesse  Miner, 
my  predecessor  amongst  the  Stockbridges,  when  an  old  man,  perhaps 
sixty  or  seventy  years  old.  I  lent  him  the  Memoirs  of  David  Brain- 
erd  to  read;  and  one  morning  early  he  called  upon  me  in  much  dis- 
tress of  mind.  "Yesterday,"  said  he,  "I  was  reading  of  his  frames 
of  mind  before  his  conversion,  and  I  thought  it  possible  that  I  might 
be  in  the  same  condition;  and,  as  his  preaching  was  the  means  of 
converting  my  mother,  I  thought  now  he  was  preaching  to  me." 
His  name  was  Bartholomew  S.  Calvin.*  He  was,  at  the  solicitation 
of  the  Society  in  Scotland,  selected  by  John  Brainerd  to  receive  a 
liberal  education.  His  natural  talents  were  above  mediocrity ;  but 
in  his  Sophomore  year  in  college  the  funds  failed  in  consequence  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  with  England,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
college.  Afterwards  it  appears  that  he  was  employed  as  a  school- 
teacher amongst  the  Indians  for  some  years. 

His  daughter,  who  has  only  one  surviving  sister  of  quite  a  family 
of  children,  says  that  her  great-grandfather,  who  resided  in  New 
Jersey,  was  a  king  amongst  his  people ;  and  although  he  lived  and 
died  a  pagan,  yet  he  was  said  to  be  a  very  upright  and  honest  man. 
He  was  rich,  and  owned  a  great  deal  of  land  and  many  horses;  that 
his  name  was  We-queh-a-lak. 

A  wicked  white  man  living  amongst  his  people  would  from  time 
to  time  get  him  intoxicated,  and  then  extort  from  him  large  tracts 
of  land.  At  a  certain  time,  after  he  became  sober,  having  been  made 
drunk  in  this  manner,  the  white  man  told  him  how  many  miles  of 
land  he  had  sold  to  him.  This  so  exasperated  him,  that  he  drew  his 
gun  and  shot  him  through  the  heart.  Previously  he  had  been  very 
intimate  with  the  Governor,  and  they  were  accustomed  to  dine  at 
each  other's  houses. 

The  old  king  then  gave  himself  up  to  the  white  people,  who  not 
only  took  him,  but  all  of  his  horses  and  all  of  his  silver-ware  which 
they  could  find,  of  which  he  had  a  good  deal.  His  subjects  offered 
to  go  and  release  him  from  jail  and  the  white  people,  and  let  him  go 
West.  But  no;  he  told  them  it  would  not  be  right  for  a  king  to  run 

*  The  man  who  came  as  delegate  to  New  Jersey  in  1832. 


APPENDIX.  461 

away,  and,  moreover,  he  exhorted  them  to  live  in  peace  with  their 
pale-i'aced  brethren.  He  told  the  white  people  that  he  wanted  to 
have  them  shoot  him  like  a  man,  as  he  did,  and  not  hang  him;  but 
they  disregarded  his  entreaty,  and  hung  him  before  the  time.  The 
Governor  sent  him  a  reprieve,  but  it  was  not  received  until  after  he 
was  dead.  He  exhorted  his  people  before  he  died  to  go  West,  where 
there  were  no  pale-faces;  "for,"  said  he,  "they  will  sell  you  rum  and 
cheat  you  out  of  your  land.  It  I  suffer  the  white  people  to  hang 
me,  the  Great  Spirit  will  receive  me  to  the  good  hunting-ground; 
but  if  I  run  away,  he  will  not  suffer  me  to  go  there." 

After  the  death  of  the  old  king,  the  white  people  went  and  took 
every  thing  which  his  wife  had  left — not  only  his  property,  but  his 
land — from  her,  and  turned  her  out  of  doors  with  four  or  five  small 
children,  one  of  them  being  only  a  few  days  old.  But  she  died  soon 
after  her  husband,  and  all  of  her  children,  except  an  only  daughter 
three  years  old ;  but,  before  she  grew  up,  she  saw  her  aunt  killed  by 
a  white  man,  and  she  suffered  almost  every  thing  but  death.  This 
orphan  was  the  mother  of  Mr.  Calvin,  and  the  first  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity under  David  Brainerd's  preaching  after  he  went  amongst  the 
Indians ;  and  her  husband  was  his  teacher  or  interpreter.  She  said 
that  he  was  the  first  white  man  she  could  ever  love,  having  suffered 
so  much  from  them,  for  she  had  always  been  afraid  of  them ;  but 
now  God  had  sent  this  man  to  pay  her  for  all  the  wrongs  which  she 
had  suffered,  and  now  she  could  pray  for  everybody. 

She  loved  David  Brainerd  very  much,  because  he  loved  his  hea- 
venly Father  so  much  that  he  was  willing  to  endure  hardships,  tra- 
velling over  mountains,  suffering  hunger,  and  lying  on  the  ground, 
that  he  might  do  her  people  good ;  and  she  did  every  thing  she  could 
for  his  comfort. 

After  his  death,  his  brother  John  succeeded  him,  and  died  much 
lamented  by  the  Indians.  Her  father  said,  when  David  Brainerd 
first  explained  to  the  Indians  what  sin  was,  and  how  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  the  world  and  died  to  save  them  from  everlasting  punish- 
ment, it  affected  them  so  much  to  hear  that  Christ  suffered  to  save 
such  wicked  Indians  as  they  were,  that  they  threw  themselves  upon 
the  ground  and  sobbed  aloud.  Several  hundreds  were  hopefully  con- 
verted under  his  preaching,  and  he  had  two  or  three  large  churches 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  as  the  Delawares  were  quite  nume- 
rous at  that  time.  Before  David  came  amongst  them,  his  people  com- 
menced going  West  in  small  bands ;  but,  after  the  Brainerds  closed 
their  labors  amongst  them,  they  followed  on  after  their  brethren  in 
small  bands,  and  many  of  them  carried  the  good  seed  which  had  been 


462  APPENDIX. 

sown  in  their  hearts  to  the  far  West.  But  the  last  company  which 
was  left  in  New  Jersey  her  father  brought  to  New  Stockbridge,  in 
the  State  of  New  York.  Some  of  these  went  to  Kansas ;  but  they 
are  dead,  and  nearly  all  which  he  brought  with  him. 

Says  that  she  never  heard  her  father  say  much  about  David's 
labors  amongst  the  Stockbridges,  as  he  knew  but  little  respecting 
them ;  but  that  she  had  heard  old  Mr.  Metoxen,  who  was  a  head 
man  amongst  them,  and  lived  and  died  a  devoted  Christian,  say  that 
David  did  a  great  deal  of  good  amongst  his  people,  and  had  a  large 
church,  but  that  he  did  not  stay  long. 

Old  Mr.  Metoxen  has  been  dead  a  number  of  years. 

When  John  Brainerd  died,  he  left  the  conch-shell  which  his  brother 
and  himself  also  used  to  call  the  people  together  for  public  worship. 
It  bears  evident  marks  of  age  by  its  smoothness ;  and  I  obtained  it 
of  his  daughter,  and  preserve  it  as  a  precious  memento  of  such  de- 
voted missionaries. 

Whilst  I  labored  amongst  the  Stockbridges,  it  was  composed  of 
remnants  of  two  other  tribes  besides  them,  namely,  Delawares  and 
Munsies.  My  church  at  one  time,  I  think,  numbered  about  seventy 
members,  and  generally  they  gave  as  good  evidence  of  personal  piety 
as  a  church  of  the  same  number  amongst  white  people.  But  political 
dissension  was  their  ruin.  A  part  wished  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  another  was  determined  to  remain  in  the  Indian 
state.  This,  together  with  another  cause,  beyond  my  control  or  the 
control  of  the  American  Board,  seemed  to  render  my  labors  well  nigh 
nugatory.  I  was  succeeded  by  an  excellent  brother  in  the  ministry, 
though  not  a  missionary  of  the  Board;  and,  after  laboring  for  a 
considerable  time,  he  gave  up,  for  the  same  reasons,  I  believe,  that 
I  did. 

Since  I  left  them  they  have  been  in  a  deplorable  condition,  very 
much  divided  and  distracted.  They  sold  out  the  Reservation  which 
they  owned  when  I  labored  with  them,  and  have  part  of  them  re- 
moved to  one  in  an  adjoining  county;  but  it  is  so  poor  and  frosty 
that  they  cannot  live  there,  and  they  are  about  to  sell  out  to  go 
West,  perhaps  to  Nebraska.  There  are  only  thirty-four  families  in 
this  latter  place,  with  a  church  of  about  twenty  members  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Methodists;  but  there  are  only  ten  of  the  old  mem- 
bers. Some  thirty  of  the  Stockbridges  have  enlisted  in  the  United 
States  service,  but  some  are  already  dead. 

Yours  very  truly, 

CUTTING  MARSH. 


APPENDIX.  463 

[The  Indian  woman's  story,  if  it  misstates  some  facts,  is  generally 
truthful,  and  confirms  our  statement,  that  the  religious  influence  ex- 
erted by  the  Brainerds  still  lives,  and  is  energizing  on  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  West.  Our  old  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh,  will  have 
from  our  readers  many  thanks  for  his  interesting  communication. — 
EDITOR.] 


D. 

[The  following,  from  the  Missionary  Herald  of  1834,  is  confirma- 
tory of  the  letter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh,  as  to  the  interest  still  felt  by 
Indian  wanderers  in  the  missionaries  of  New  Jersey.  The  extract 
is  long,  but  we  could  not  withhold  it  from  our  readers.  The  scene 
occurred  some  six  hundred  miles  beyond  the  Mississippi  (see  p.  423).] 

David  Brainerd  not  Forgotten. 

On  the  subject  of  converting  the  Indians  to  Christ,  the  question  is 
often  asked,  "  Where  are  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  Eliot,  the  May- 
hews,  Brainerd,  and  other  eminently  holy  and  successful  missionaries 
among  them?" 

The  churches  must  charge  to  the  account  of  their  own  negligence 
or  abandonment  of  the  work,  that  they  have  seen  so  little  fruit  from 
the  labors  of  those  missionaries  of  apostolic  spirit,  just  referred  to. 
Successors  were  not  sent  to  carry  forward  and  finish  the  work  which 
they  began ;  to  instruct,  enlarge,  and  perpetuate  the  churches  which 
they  gathered ;  or  to  prepare  books,  establish  schools,  and  use  other 
means  for  promoting  their  intellectual  improvement.  A  vine  was 
planted,  a  choice  vine;  but  it  was  overtopped  and  choked  by  thorns; 
and  while  no  man  dug  about  it  or  watered  it,  or  even  visited  it  to  see 
whether  it  bore  fruit  or  not,  it  withered  and  died. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  a  single  family  descended  from 
David  Brainerd's  church  was  addressed  to  a  Christian  friend,  and  has 
been  kindly  forwarded  for  the  Herald: — 

"  I  have  here,  in  this  part  of  the  world,  found  some  of  the  children 
of  David  Brainerd's  church-members.  My  heart  has  been  so  full  ever 
since  I  found  them,  that  I  have  hardly  thought  of  any  thing  else ; 
and  this  morning  I  resolved  to  return  to  the  house,  and  sit  down  and 
give  some  account  of  them. 

"  Last  Saturday  I  went  to  a  missionary-station  in  the  Shawnee 
nation,  situated  a  little  above  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  River,  and 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  river  on  the  south  side.  A  two- 
days'  meeting  among  the  Shawnee  and  Delaware  Indians  commenced 


464  APPENDIX. 

on  this  day.  Full  an  hundred  Indians  assembled.  They  were  well 
dressed,  and  they  behaved  well ;  many  of  them  appeared  to  be  serious 
Mr.  Kingsbury  and  Mr.  Pixley,  late  of  the  Osage  mission,  were  there 
with  the  people  at  the  first  meeting.  At  the  second  meeting,  Mr. 
Kingsbury  and  myself  addressed  the  Indians  through  interpreters. 
We  told  them  about  the  Choctaws,  and  our  labors  among  them: 
they  were  quite  attentive. 

"  After  the  meeting  closed,  I  walked  a  few  steps  and  spoke  to  an 
Indian  woman,  who  spoke  good  English.  I  inquired  of  her  concern- 
ing her  origin.  She  said  she  belonged  to  David  Brainerd's  people. 
This  at  once  roused  up  my  heart  to  make  many  inquiries.  At  her 
side  sat  her  sister,  also  a  member  of  the  church :  both  could  read  in 
the  Bible,  and  both  kept  their  Bibles  through  all  their  wanderings. 
Their  father  and  mother  and  grandmother  were  members  of  David 
Brainerd's  church. 

"  These  two  women  became  pious  about  twenty  years  since,  under 
the  preaching  of  Isaac  Wab-e,  who  was  a  disciple  of  Sampson  Occum, 
at  Brotherton,  in  the  State  of  New  York.  When  they  were  quite 
young,  their  father,  Jacob  Skiket,*  left  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and 
removed  to  New  York.  The  children  yet  remember  how  he  prayed 
in  his  family.  They  spoke  much  of  their  grandmother,  who  often 
prayed  with  them,  and,  when  she  prayed,  Catharine,  one  of  the  sis- 
ters, said,  '  I  would  look  to  see  if  I  could  see  anybody ;  but  I  could 
not  see  any  one.' 

"I  asked  Catharine  if  she  had  ever  seen  any  trouble. 

"  'Oh,  yes!'  she  replied. 

"  'Have  you  ever  seen  the  time  when  your  children  have  cried  for 
something  to  eat,  and  you  had  nothing  to  give  them?' 

"  'Oh,  yes!  When  we  lived  down  on  James  River  (which  is  a 
branch  of  White  River,  which  empties  into  the  Mississippi),  we  had 
hard  times:  we  had  to  go  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  buy  corn, 
and  we  had  no  preaching.' 

"  'Did  not  you  almost  forget  the  things  of  religion,  and  your  hearts 
become  cold?' 

"  'Oh,  yes!  my  heart  died;'    and  here  she  spoke  at  length. 

"Elizabeth  then  spoke  of  her  troubles,  when  she  was  on  a  journey 
of  nine  hundred  miles  from  the  State  of  New  York,  and,  while  passing 
along  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  her  husband  died  of  the  lake 
fever,  leaving  her  with  six  small  children,  and  the  youngest  two  days 


*  His  real  name  was  Stakit,  not  "  Skiket."  He  was  one  of  John  Brainerd's  principal 
men  who  signed  the  answer  to  the  Muskinguni  invitation,  before  recorded. — ED. 


APPENDIX.  465 

old.  '  I  thought  I  never  should  get  through  my  troubles ;  but  the  Lord 
helped  me ;  I  did  not  forsake  him.'  She  now  has  a  son  who  is  pious, 
and  prays  in  his  family ;  his  mother  lives  with  him.  These  two  old 
women  were  well  dressed,  spoke  good  English,  and  seemed  to  be  very 
happy,  as  now  they  live  where  they  can  attend  religious  meetings. 
They  sustain  a  good  religious  character  among  their  acquaintance; 
their  children  have  attended  our  mission-school  at  Harmony.  Think 
of  this,  and  see  how  the  Lord  provides  for  his  people,  for  their  chil- 
dren and  their  children's  children !  A  school  was  established  at  Har- 
mony, in  the  Osage  nation,  to  educate  the  grandchildren  of  David 
Brainerd's  church-members.  Several  of  the  children  are  hopefully 
pious. 

"I  also  inquired  about  David  Brainerd.  '  What  did  your  grand- 
mother say  about  him?' 

"  '  He  was  a  young  man, — he  was  a  lovely  man ;  he  was  a  staff, — 
he  was  a  staff  to  walk  with.  He  went  about  from  house  to  house  to 
talk  about  religion :  that  was  his  way.  He  slept  on  a  deer-skin  or  a 
bear-skin.  He  ate  bear-meat  and  samp :  then  we  knew  he  was  not 
proud.  He  would  come  to  my  grandmother's  and  say,  "I  am  hun- 
gry,— make  haste!"  Then  she  would  take  down  the  kettle,  and  he 
would  eat.  But  some  of  the  people  did  not  like  him,  and  said, 
"What  has  this  white  man  come  here  for?  we  don't  want  him  here?" 
and  they  told  him  to  go  oif.  When  the  Indians  assembled  to  dance 
and  have  a  feast,  he  would  go  there  also,  and  go  away  in  the  bushes 
and  pray  for  them ;  and  then  some  said,  "We  do  not  want  this  white 
man  here;  let  us  make  away  with  him."  But  others  said,  "No;  we 
will  not  kill  him."  After  a  while  they  found  that  he  was  an  honest 
man,  and  then  they  would  do  any  thing  he  said.' 

"  I  then  asked  her  why  Brainerd  died  so  soon,  as  he  was  a  young 
man. 

"  'My  grandmother  said  he  was  not  used  to  our  way  of  living, — so 
cold  in  the  winter,  sleeping  on  skins  and  on  the  ground.  He  went 
to  New  England,  and  died  of  the  consumption.' 

"I  then  told  her  where  and  how  he  died. 

"  'After  his  death,  his  brother  John  came  to  our  people:  he  died 
in  Deerfield,  in  New  Jersey.  He  was  in  doubt*  when  he  was  about 
to  die,  and  one  Indian  woman  went  and  talked  to  him.' 

"I  could  tell  you  much  more,  and  must  add  what  a  girl,  residing 


*  We  see  in  this  painful  evidence  that  John  Brainerd  shared  in  the  peculiarities  of 
his  family,  many  of  whom,  first  and  last,  have  had  a  tendency  to  religious  despond- 
ency. My  own  pious  father,  a  most  conscientious  man,  was  thus  afflicted. — E». 

40 


466  APPENDIX. 

in  a  missionary's  family,  said  of  these  women  one  day  to  her  mis- 
tress: 'I  think  these  old  Indian  women  have  meetings  enough  now. 
When  they  lived  on  James  River,  they  were  always  talking  about 
how  much  they  wanted  meetings ;  and,  when  the  Sabbath  came,  they 
would  gather  up  all  their  children  and  have  a  meeting  by  themselves. 
No  one  ever  went  to  see  what  kind  of  meeting  it  was ;  but  they  always 
had  their  meetings  on  Sundays.' 

"  I  give  you,  as  near  as  I  can,  a  literal  statement  of  what  I  have 
heard.  I  spent  Saturday  and  the  Sabbath  at  the  meeting,  and  had 
several  opportunities  to  converse  with  the  women.  I  seemed  to  be 
nearer  at  least  to  Brainerd,  as  a  laborer,  than  I  ever  expected  to  be. 
I  had  often  inquired  for  the  remnants  of  his  flock,  and  now  I  saw 
them.  Truly  my  heart  was  full :  I  saw  the  goodness  and  faithful- 
ness of  God.  These  two  were  the  only  persons  belonging  to  Brain- 
erd's  people  in  the  place;  there  are  others  at  Green  Bay." 


B. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Allen  H.  Brown,  of  Absecom,  N.  J.,  on  John  Brainerd' s 

Domestic  Missionary  Labors  (see  p.  426). 
REV.  THOMAS  BRAINERD,  D.D. 

DEAR  SIR: — Upon  a  subject  of  such  mutual  interest  as  the  life  and 
labors  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  I  extend  to  you  the  right  hand  of 
cooperation.  For  seventeen  years  I  have  travelled  more  or  less  ex- 
tensively over  the  same  ground  which  he  trod,  and  during  this  period 
have  discovered  some  facts  respecting  the  churches  planted  by  him, 
which  had  passed  into  oblivion  and  were  entirely  unknown  to  the 
Presbyteries  of  the  present  day.  Like  a  traveller  among  ancient 
ruins,  we  felt  a  sadness,  which  was  relieved  somewhat  by  the  hope 
that  these  ruins  shall  be  built  again. 

From  the  second  volume  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, commencing  with  1759,  it  appears  that  frequent  supplica- 
tions for  supplies  were  presented,  and  that  appointments  were  made, 
for  Great  Egg  Harbor  and  Little  Egg  Harbor,  and  in  1762  supplies 
were  requested  for  Barnegat  Shore.  During  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  subsequently,  these  places  are  mentioned  with  less 
frequency. 

First  in  time  and  importance  here  belongs  Mr.  Brainerd's  letter  to 
Enoch  Green  (published  originally  in  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer's  Presbyte- 
rian Magazine  for  1852,  p.  471). 

The  attentive  reader,  comparing  the  private  houses  herein  men- 


APPENDIX.  467 

tioned  with  the  meeting -houses  of  Mr.  Fithian's  later  journal,  will 
notice  the  progress  made  in  the  erection  of  houses  of  worship  from 
1761  to  1775.  For  purposes  of  reference  the  following  letter  is  re- 
inserted : — 

TRENTON,  June  21,  1761. 

REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIE  : — 

It  has  not  been  in  my  power,  by  any  means,  to  make  a  visit  to  the 
Shore  since  the  session  of  Synod,  and  consequently  could  not  make 
appointments  for  you.  Your  places  of  preaching,  however,  will  be 
as  follows :  Tom's  River,  the  most  northerly  place ;  then  southward, 
Goodluck,  either  at  Thomas  Potter's  or  David  Woodmansee's ;  Barne- 
gat,  at  Mr.  Rulon's;  Manuhocking,  Mr.  Hay  wood's  or  Mr.  Randal's; 
Wading  River,  at  Charles  Loveman's  or  John  Leak's ;  Great  Egg 
Harbor,  Captain  Davis',  Wm.  Reed's,  Benjamin  Ingersoll's,  Andrew 
Blackman's,  John  English's,  Philip  Scull's,  George  May's,  and  Elijah 
Clark's ;  Cape  May,  either  at  Captain  Stillwill's  or  John  Golden's,  and 
at  Tuckahoe  meeting-house ;  and  at  any  other  places  you  may  think 
proper  when  you  come  on  the  spot.  And  some  of  those  mentioned, 
possibly,  you  may  not  think  best  to  preach  at;  that  will  be  as  you 
judge  best;  but  these  are  the  houses  where  meetings  are  generally 
held. 

If  you  could  begin  with  Tom's  River,  and  be  there  a  day  or  two 
before  Sabbath  to  notify  the  people,  then  you  might  make  the  rest 
of  your  appointments  and  send  them  seasonably  before  you.  The 
proportion  will  be  two  Sabbaths  to  the  northward  of  Little  Egg 
Harbor,  three  in  Great  Egg  Harbor,  one  at  the  Cape  or  Tuckahoe, 
and  as  many  weekly  lectures  at  all  as  you  can. 

Thus,  dear  sir,  in  a  minute  or  two,  as  I  pass  through  town,  I  have 
given  you  these  hints,  which,  perhaps,  may  be  of  some  use  to  your 
tour  on  the  Shore :  in  which  I  hope  the  blessing  of  God  will  attend 
your  labors,  and  am,  with  all  respect, 

Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

JOHN  BRAINERD. 

To  the  Rev.  ENOCH  GREEN. 

P.S. — If  you  could  consult  with  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  and  Mr.  Mc- 
Knight,  who  will  succeed  yon,  and  make  their  appointments  for 
them,  it  would  be  of  use.  I  hope  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  call 
and  see  me  on  your  return. 

Tom's  River  is  now  the  flourishing  county  seat  of  Ocean  county. 
Its  old,  dilapidated,  free  church  has  been  succeeded  by  substantial 


468  APPENDIX. 

Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches:  the  latter  was  dedicated  in 
September,  1858. 

Here  for  several  years  has  been  a  Mormon  house  of  worship.  If 
the  labors  begun  by  Brainerd  and  his  cotemporaries  had  not  been 
suspended  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  whether  Mormonism  would 
have  found  this  only  home  in  New  Jersey  is  a  question  which  we 
submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  thoughtful  reader. 

At  Goodluck  is  a  tombstone,  with  this  inscription:  "In  memory 
of  Thomas  Potter,  the  Friend  and  Patron  of  John  Murray,  an  early 
advocate  of  Universalism  in  America." 

The  curious  autobiography  of  Murray,  published  in  Boston  in  1853, 
gives  an  account  of  eccentric  Thomas  Potter,  and  illustrates  the  times 
and  scenes  during  which  our  missionaries  labored. 

Murray,  taking  passage  in  a  vessel  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York, 
was  driven  ashore,  during  a  fog,  near  Cranberry  Inlet.  In  quest  of 
fish,  he  met  Potter,  who  surprised  him  by  his  abrupt  refusal  to  sell, 
and  free  offer  to  give  what  he  needed.  Potter  gives  this  account  of 
himself  and  the  country : — 

"  I  am  a  poor,  ignorant  man ;  I  know  neither  how  to  read  nor 
write.  I  was  born  in  these  woods,  and  my  father  did  not  think 
proper  to  teach  me  my  letters.  I  went  on  coasting-voyages  to  New 
York,  and  was  pressed  on  board  a  man-of-war  ;  I  ran  away,  and  re- 
turned. I  entered  into  navigation,  constructed  a  saw-mill,  and  have 
got  together  a  large  estate.  I  opened  my  house  to  the  stranger,  and 
especially  if  a  travelling  minister  passed  this  way  he  always  received 
an  invitation  to  put  up  at  my  house  and  hold  his  meetings  here.  I 
continued  this  practice  for  seven  years,  and  was  fond  of  asking  them 
questions.  My  wife  became  weary  of  having  meetings  held  in  her 
house ;  and  I  determined  to  build  a  house  for  the  worship  of  God. 
My  neighbors  offered  assistance;  but  I  declined  it,  and  said  that  God 
will  send  me  a  preacher,  and  of  a  very  different  stamp  from  those 
who  have  heretofore  preached  at  my  house  and  are  perpetually  con- 
tradicting themselves." 

The  Baptists  first  applied  for  the  house ;  but  Potter  replied  that  all 
should  be  equally  welcome  to  preach  in  it.  The  Quakers  and  Pres- 
byterians received  similar  answers.  He  continues: — 

"I  engaged  the  first  year  with  a  man  whom  I  exceedingly  dis- 
liked. We  parted;  and  for  some  years  we  have  had  no  stated  min- 
ister." 

Potter  claimed  a  vivid  impression,  almost  a  supernatural  intima- 


APPENDIX,  469 

tion,  that  the  vessel  cast  away  contained  the  long-looked-for  preacher 
after  his  own  heart,  and  that  Murray  was  the  man. 

Murray,  seeing  only  thick  woods  (the  tavern  across  the  field  ex- 
cepted),  requested  to  know  what  he  meant  by  neighbors. 

"  Oh,  sir,  we  assemble  a  large  congregation  whenever  the  meeting- 
house is  opened.  Indeed,  when  my  father  first  settled  here,  he  was 
obliged  to  go  twenty  miles  to  grind  a  bushel  of  corn ;  but  there  are 
now  more  than  seven  hundred  inhabitants  within  that  distance." 

The  wind  continuing  unfavorable  for  Murray's  departure,  he  on 
Saturday  afternoon  consented  to  preach,  and  servants  were  sent  on 
horseback  to  give  notice,  far  and  wide,  until  ten  in  the  evening. 

It  was  in  September,  1770,  when  John  Murray  consented  to  accept 
Potter's  invitation,  and  remain  a  few  years  preaching  universal  sal- 
vation. He  says : — 

"Our  Sundays  were  indeed  blessed,  holy  days!  People  began  to 
throng  from  all  quarters  on  horseback ;  some  from  the  distance  of 
twenty  miles." 

This  may  seem  too  extended  a  digression  from  John  Brainerd's 
letter  to  Enoch  Green ;  and  we  will  return  to  it,  after  giving  Mur- 
ray's account  of  Potter's  dwelling  and  meeting-house: — 

"  I  returned  to  the  cabin.  The  house  was  neat,  the  situation  en- 
chanting: it  was  on  the  margin  of  the  deep,  on  the  side  of  an  ex- 
tensive bay,  which  abounded  with  fish  of  every  description  and  a 
great  variety  of  water-fowl.  On  the  other  side  of  this  dwelling, 
after  passing  over  a  few  fields  (which  at  this  time  stood  thick  with 
corn),  venerable  woods,  that  seemed  the  coevals  of  time,  presented  a 
'scene  for  contemplation  fit,  towering  majestic,  and  filling  the  devo- 
tional mind  with  a  religious  awe.' 

"I  entered  the  meeting-house.  It  was  neat  and  convenient,  exr 
pressive  of  the  character  of  the  builder.  There  were  no  pews :  the 
pulpit  was  rather  in  the  Quaker  mode ;  the  seats  were  constructed 
with  backs,  roomy,  and  even  elegant.  I  said  there  were  no  pews : 
there  was  one  large  square  pew  just  before  the  pulpit;  in  this  sat 
the  venerable  man  and  his  family,  particular  friends,  and  visiting 
strangers.  In  this  pew  sat  upon  this  occasion  this  happy  man ;  and 
surely  no  man  upon  this  side  of  heaven  was  ever  more  completely 
happy." 

Potter,  in  his  last  will,  gave  the  meeting-house  and  one  acre  of 
ground  to  John  Murray.  Subsequently  the  executor  sold  the  adjoin- 
ing property,  and,  no  reservation  being  made  of  the  meeting-house, 

40* 


470  APPENDIX. 

this  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Methodists,  by  whom  it  is  still  held. 
A  Conference  of  Universalists  was  held  there  in  1833,  and  by  them 
the  tombstone  was  erected  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  Potter. 

In  another  burial-ground  at  Goodluck  is  an  old  brown  head-stone, 
with  this  inscription : — 

David  Woodmansee, 

Born  Nov.  14,  1719, 

Died  July  13,  1799, 

In  his  80th  year. 

From  Tom's  River  to  Tuckerton  is  a  distance,  from  north  to  south, 
of  thirty  miles.  In  this  district  lived  the  Potters,  the  Woodmansees, 
the  Rulons,  the  Haywoods,  and  the  Randals.  Only  recently  has  the 
Presbyterian  Church  cultivated  this  important  district,  and  appointed 
an  itinerant  for  the  pleasant  and  populous  villages  of  Forked  River, 
Weir  Town,  Barnegat,  and  Manuhocking.  Webster's  History  (page 
568)  says:  "There  was  in  1767  a  new  Presbyterian  meeting-house 
at  Barnegat,  and  probably  as  early  was  one  at  Manahawken  ;"  but 
I  have  not  yet  found  the  oldest  inhabitant  who  can  give  any  tradi- 
tional confirmation  of  this  statement. 

Coming  from  Tuckerton  and  the  ocean,  about  six  or  nine  miles  in 
a  northwesterly  course,  and  keeping  on  the  north  side  of  the  Little 
Egg  Harbor  or  Mullica  River,  in  Burlington  county,  we  find  Bass 
River  and  Wading  River,  where  lived  the  Lovemans  and  the  Leaks. 
A  small  church  at  Bass  River,  and  a  more  costly  edifice  at  Tuckerton, 
with  its  school  and  parsonage  and  settled  pastor,  are  among  the  re- 
sults of  many  visits  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller  and  others,  and  of  the 
one  visit  of  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Van  Rensselaer,  who  gave  not  only  his  living 
but  his  dying  testimony  to  the  importance  of  the  field  by  his  legacy 
of  one  thousand  dollars  to  the  Church  of  Tuckerton. 

We  must  continue  the  same  course  wearily  through  the  sand  to 
find  a  bridge  at  the  head  of  navigation  whereby  we  cross  into  the 
Great  Egg  Harbor  country,  between  the  Little  and  Great  Egg  Har- 
bor Rivers,  now  belonging  to  Atlantic  county.  In  this  district  lived 
the  next  eight  families,  to  whom  Mr.  Brainerd  introduced  Mr.  Green. 
Here,  too,  fourteen  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Fithian  found  three  houses 
of  worship ;  and  at  the  present  day  the  traveller  will  find  four  edi- 
fices and  five  Presbyterian  organizations,  viz.,  May's  Landing,  Leed's 
Point,  Absecom,  Brainerd,  and  Hamrnonton. 

On  the  borders  of  Atlantic,  Cumberland,  and  Cape  May  counties  is 
Tuckahoe,  with  a  Presbyterian  church  of  recent  origin. 

We  cannot  positively  decide  what  or  where  was  the  only  meeting- 


APPENDIX.  47 1 

house  which  Mr.  Green  could  occupy  in  his  long  ride:  long  indeed, 
for  he  could  not  visit  all  the  places  mentioned  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes, Tom's  Eiver  and  Tuckahoe  meeting-house,  even  by  the  most 
direct  route,  without  riding  at  least  one  hundred  miles;  and  while 
searching  out  the  families  he  probably  travelled  much  more. 

The  following  statements  are  drawn  chiefly  from  permanent  re- 
cords ;  while  some  of  the  connecting  links  of  history  are  furnished 
by  living  witnesses. 

They  were  published  in  the  Woodbury  "Constitution"  in  1850. 

We  now  present  some  extracts  from  the  journal  of  Mr.  Philip  V. 
Fithian,  who  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, November  6,  1774,  and  who  visited  Egg  Harbor  in  February, 
1775.  The  original  journal  is  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  E.  Fithian,  of 
Greenwich,  to  whose  kindness  we  are  indebted  for  a  copy  of  this  inte- 
resting document. 

"Friday,  February  3,  1775. — Early  in  the  morning,  in  company 
with  Dr.  Elmer,  I  left  Cohansie  for  Egg  Harbor.  We  arrived  at  Mr. 
Thomas  Stites',  at  Great  Egg  Harbor,  about  4  P.M.  Sermon  was  ap- 
pointed for  Sunday  at  Mr.  Champion's,  in  the  neighborhood,  a  half- 
brother  in  the  cause. 

"Sunday,  5th. — Many  straggling,  impertinent,  vociferous  swamp- 
men  accompanied  me  this  morning;  they,  however,  used  me  with 
great  civility.  At  12  began  service.  There  were  present  between 
forty  and  fifty  persons,  who  were  attentive  without  any  impropriety 
of  behavior,  and  seemed  to  have  some  solemnity.  I  spoke  with  great 
freedom  of  spirit,  yet,  I  hope,  with  a  real  reverence  of  the  universal 
presence  and  awful  majesty  of  the  great  God. 

"Monday,  Qth. — I  rode  to  the  Forks  at  Little  Egg  Harbor,  and 
put  up,  according  to  direction,  at  Elijah  Clark's,  Esq.  Mr.  Clark  is 
a  man  of  fortune  and  taste :  he  appears  also  to  be  a  man  of  integrity 
and  piety,  an  Israelite  indeed ;  and,  0  religion,  thou  hast  one  warm 
and  unfeigned  advocate  in  good  and  useful  Mrs.  Clark !  I  had  rather 
have  her  spirit  with  the  condition  of  a  starving  beggar,  than  des- 
titute of  it  to  have  the  wealth  of  worlds:  she  has  more  than  the 
form,  she  has  the  spirit,  of  religion.  This  peaceful,  friendly,  heaven- 
like  spirit  is  breathing  from  her  in  every  sentence. 

"  Wednesday,  8th. — According  to  appointment,  I  preached  in  Mr. 
Clark's  little  log  meeting-house ;  present  about  forty.  I  understand 
the  people  in  this  wild  and  thinly-settled  country  are  extremely  nice 
and  difficult  to  be  suited  in  preaching;  one  would  think  that  scarcely 
any  but  a  clamorous  person,  who  has  assurance  enough  to  make  a 
rumpus  and  bluster  in  the  pulpit,  would  have  admirers  here.  It  is, 


472  APPENDIX. 

however,  otherwise.  They  must  have,  before  they  can  be  entertained, 
good  speaking,  good  sense,  sound  divinity,  and  neatness  and  cleanli- 
ness in  the  person  and  dress  of  the  preacher:  this  I  found  from  the 
remarks  which  several  of  them  freely  made  upon  gentlemen  who  had 
formerly  preached  here. 

"Sunday,  12th. — We  had  at  the  small  log  house  a  large  assembly. 
The  day  snowy.  I  preached  but  once. 

"Monday,  13th. — I  rode  by  appointment  up  to  Brotherton,  and 
preached  to  Mr.  Brainerd's  Indians.  Present  about  thirty,  and  as 
many  white  people." 

Mr.  Fithian  then  proceeded  to  Greenwich,  and,  returning  on  the 
21st  to  Egg  Harbor,  writes  thus : — 

"  Saturday,  25th. — From  the  Forks  of  Little  Egg  Harbor  I  rode  to 
the  seashore,  to  Mr.  Price's,  an  English  young  gentleman  of  fortune 
•and  breeding,  with  a  design  to  preach  still  lower  down. 

"Sunday,  26th. — I  preached  to  a  thin  assembly  at  Cedar  Bridge 
meeting-house.  At  2  P.M.  I  preached  at  Absecom,  at  one  Mr.  Steel- 
man's  ;  a  full  house. 

"Monday,  21th. — At  11  I  preached  at  Clark's  Mill  meeting-house; 
the  assembly  very  attentive.  Here  they  gave  me  a  dollar.  After- 
noon, I  returned  to  the  Forks ;  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brainerd  there. 

"Sunday,  March  12th. — Our  little  meeting-house  almost  filled. 
Most  of  the  people  from  the  Furnace,  almost  every  one  from  Mr. 
Clark's  little  settlement  and  Mr.  Wescott's ;  and,  blessed  be  God !  all 
seemed  attentive.  I  preached  twice. 

"Monday,  13th. — After  dinner  I  rode  over  to  the  Furnace"  at  Bat- 
sto,  "  and  visited  friendly  and  agreeable  Mrs.  Richards.  Toward  even- 
ing, with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  and  Mrs.  B.,  called  to  see  Mrs.  P.,  where 
we  had  some  useful  conversation.  In  the  evening,  rode  from  the 
Furnace  to  the  singing-school:  we  had  not,  however,  the  greatest 
harmony.  On  our  return,  at  my  lodgings  was  pious  Mr.  Brainerd 
arrived  for  the  serious  exercises  appointed  for  to-morrow.  I  sat  with 
him  and  listened  to  his  pious  and  useful  discourse  till  11,  when  I  went 
reluctantly  to  bed. 

"  Tuesday,  14th. — A  solemn  fast.  The  day  rainy :  we  have  yet  a 
good  number.  At  Mr.  Brainerd's  request,  I  preached  first  from  La- 
mentations iii.  40,  composed  for  the  occasion.  Mr.  B.  afterwards 
preached  an  excellent  discourse  on  the  happiness  of  a  strong  and 
special  reliance  on  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer. 

"  I  have  said  that  the  people  here  are  nice  in  their  taste  concern- 
ing1 preaching.  It  is  not  without  reason:  they  have  had  subjects  for 


APPENDIX.  473 

comparison.  Mr.  Brainerd  and  Mr.  Clark  enumerated  the  following 
gentlemen  who  have  occasionally,  and  some  of  them  very  often, 
preached  here  as  supplies:  Messrs.  Brainerd,  Tennent,  Smith,  Benj. 
Chestnut,  Hunter,  Spencer,  Dr.  James  Sproat,  Charles  Beatty,  Wm. 
Ramsey,  Nehemiah  Greenman,  Green,  J.  Clark,  S.  Chirk,  McKnight, 
McCracken.  Mitchell,  Watt,  Boyd,  Gravis,  Brockway,  Van  Artsdalen, 
Holhnshead  McClure,  Frisby,  Keith,  and  Andrew  Hunter,  jr." 

Here  are  the  names  of  twenty-six  Presbyterian  ministers  besides 
Mr.  Fitluan,  who  left  their  flocks  in  Cape  May,  Philadelphia,  and 
other  places,  and  travelled  long  distances  on  horseback  that  they 
might  seek  and  feed  the  few  scattered  sheep  in  the  wilderness.  Mr. 
Greenman  at  one  time  left  his  congregation  at  Pilesgrove,  now  Pitts- 
grove,  and  spent  six  months  on  the  shore,  and  almost  made  an  en- 
gagement to  settle  there. 

What  conclusion  shall  we  draw?  Did  those  servants  of  God  esteem 
this  region  more  important,  or  had  they  any  more  of  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  than  their  successors,  that  until  recently,  and  with  a  vastly 
increased  population,  the  existence  and  situation  of  these  churches 
were  actually  unknown  to  the  two  Presbyteries  within,  or  rather  be- 
tween, whose  bounds  this  Egg  Harbor  country  is  situated  ?  May  a 
double  portion  of  their  spirit  fall  upon  us,  and  may  their  God  raise 
up  and  qualify  many  to  walk  in  their  footsteps! 

We  proceed  to  show  the  situation  of  the  places  which  Rev.  P.  V. 
Fithian  mentions  in  his  journal.  "Champion's,"  to  whose  place  he 
first  came,  was  probably  near  Tuckahoe,  as  one  part  of  the  village  is 
now  called  Champion's  Landing.  The  waters  of  the  Atsion  and  Bat- 
sto  Creeks  unite  near  the  present  villages  of  Pleasant  Mills  and  Bat- 
sto,  and  form  the  Little  Egg  Harbor  or  Mullica  River.  At  or  near 
these  Forks  stood  "Mr.  Clark's  little  log  meeting-house,"  built  of 
cedar  logs  and  about  twenty-five  feet  square,  ceiled  throughout  with 
cedar.  Upon  nearly  the  same  site  stands  a  commodious  house  of 
worship,  in  which  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  the  prefer- 
ence :  yet  it  is  free  to  all  denominations,  and  for  nearly  three  years 
has  been  occupied  by  a  Presbyterian  minister  once  in  two  weeks. 

Brotherton,  or  Indian  Town,  or  Edge  Billock,  where  some  of  Mr. 
Brainerd's  Indians  were  settled,  was  ten  miles  north  of  Batsto,  in 
Burlington  county ;  and  that  district  is  now  commonly  called  Sha- 
mong. 

Mr.  Fithian  next  proceeded  to  the  shore  of  the  present  Atlantic 
county,  and  on  his  way  called  on  Mr.  Price,  who  lived  on  the  estate 
now  occupied  by  Enoch  Doughty,  Esq. 


474  APPENDIX. 

"Steelman's"  house  was  a  large  two-story  dwelling,  standing  until 
recently,  about  a  mile  north  of  Absecom,  and  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  shore  road.  The  lower  story  was  divided  into  three  rooms, 
but  the  upper  story  was  undivided,  having  a  large  chimney  in  the 
centre,  and  afforded  a  convenient  place  for  any  minister  to  preacli 
the  gospel. 

"Clark's  Mill  meeting-house"  was  in  the  northeastern  part  of  At- 
lantic county,  nearly  one  mile  from  Unionville.  The  old  bury  ing - 
ground  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Sherman  Clark  marks  its  true 
position.  An  aged  member  of  the  same  family,  who  remembers  in 
his  boyhood  to  have  seen  John  Brainerd.  has  informed  us  that  this 
house  was  about  twenty-five  feet  broad  and  thirty  feet  long,  and  was 
covered  with  shingles,  and,  having  been  neglected  for  a  long  time, 
was  blown  down  thirty  or  more  years  ago.  Here  was  an  organized 
Presbyterian  church,  and  Robert  Doughty  and  Thomas  Clark  were 
the  ruling  elders. 

"Cedar  Bridge  meeting-house,"  called  also  Blackman's  meeting- 
house, was  near  the  village  of  Bargaintown,  and  about  ten  miles 
southeast  of  May's  Landing.  It  was  built  of  planks  nailed  perpen- 
dicularly. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  deed  recorded  in  Trenton,  liber  X., 
folios  407,  408,  a  copy  being  certified  by  James  D.  Westcott,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  will  prove  the  existence  of  a  Presbyterian  church  and 
to  whom  the  property  of  right  belongs: — 

"  This  Indenture,  made  the  nineteenth  day  of  March,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four,  between 
Andrew  Blackman,  Cordwainer,  of  Egg  Harbor,  in  the  county  of 
Gloucester  and  Province  of  New  Jersey,  of  the  one  party,  and  Jo- 
seph Ingersoll,  John  Scull,  Joseph  Scull,  and  Return  Babcock,  of  the 
aforesaid  township,  county,  and  province,  of  the  other  party,  Wit- 
nesseth,  that  the  said  Andrew  Blackman,  for  and  in  consideration  of 
the  sum  of  two  pounds,  proclamation-money,  to  him  in  hand  paid 
before  the  ensealing  hereof,  by  Joseph  Ingersoll,  &c.,  *  *  *  hath 
granted,  sold,  &c.,  *  *  *  ;  containing  one  acre,  more  or  less,  to- 
gether with  the  mines,  &c.,  *  *  *  ;  for  the  erecting,  building, 
and  standing  of  a  Presbyterian  Meeting-House,  for  the  carrying  on 
of  Publick  Religious  worship  for  all  that  shall  incline  to  meet  and 
assemble  in  it ;  together  with  a  publick  Burying-yard,  for  the  inter- 
ment of  the  deceased  of  all  denominations."  *  *  * 

Three  years  afterward,  June  2,  1767,  a  memorandum  was  written 
on  the  back  of  the  deed,  explaining  the  views  of  the  persons  named, 


APPENDIX.  475 

and  proving  that  the  house  had  then  been  erected.     It  reads  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  We,  the  within  Grantees,  *  *  *  having  been  chosen  Trustees 
to  carry  on  and  manage  the  building  of  a  Presbyterian  meeting-house 
upon  the  lands  within  granted  and  sold  for  that  purpose,  do  hereby 
acknowledge  that  the  said  land  and  meeting-house  is  not  our  own 
personal  property,  but  is  bought  and  built  by  a  subscription  of  many 
persons ;  neither  do  we  claim  any  other  interest  in  it  but  what  we 
have  in  common  with  all  who  have  subscribed  hereto;  and,  though 
the  legal  title  is  vested  in  us,  yet  we  hold  it  only  in  behalf  of  our 
constituents,  and  do  promise  that  it  shall  be  kept  as  a  house  of  pub- 
lick  worship  and  the  land  for  a  free  Burying-yard,  in  which  all  may 
have  equal  privileges  with  ourselves,  without  monopolizing  it  or  en- 
grossing and  applying  it  to  any  private  use  of  our  own.  A  memo- 
randum whereof  we  leave  on  the  back  of  this  instrument,  that  pos- 
terity may  not  be  defrauded  of  their  right  or  mistaken  about  the  in- 
tent hereof,  which  is  to  secure  a  House  of  Public  Worship,  as  before 
mentioned.  In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our 
names,  hands,  and  seals."  *•  *  * 

Eespecting  the  subsequent  history  of  this  house,  we  content  our- 
selves with  adding  that,  before  it  was  decayed,  the  materials  were 
removed,  and  upon  a  portion  of  the  very  site  of  the  old  building 
stands  now  a  brick  edifice,  bearing  on  its  front  this  inscription : — 

METHODIST  CHURCH,  1822. 

Let  us  now  visit  the  remains  of  another  Brainerd  church,  which 
have  been  discovered  near  Bridgeport,  on  the  Wading  River,  in  Bur- 
lington county.  There  John  Brainerd  preached  under  a  wide-spread- 
ing oak,  until  a  cedar  log  house  was  erected.  The  oak  still  casts  its 
shade,  and  a  few  of  the  foundation-stones  of  the  building  and  the 
crumbling  monuments  of  the  burial-ground  mark  the  consecrated 
spot.  Our  chief  information  in  reference  to  it  ig  drawn  from  the 
copy  of  a  will  which  James  Linn,  Register  of  the  Prerogative  Court 
in  1817,  certified  to  be  a  true  transcript  from  liber  No.  19  of  Wills, 
page  214,  &c.,  remaining  in  his  office.  Tlje  portion  which  is  interest- 
ing to  our  ecclesiastical  history  is  the  following  :— 

"In  the  name  of  God,  Amen,  I,  John  Leak,  of  Little  Egg  Harbor, 
in  the  County  of  Burlington,  in  the  Western  Division  of  New  Jersey, 
yeoman.  I  do,  this  fifth  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  &c.  &c.,  *  *  •  •  Item. 
I  give  and  bequeath  unto  the  several  inhabitants  of  Wading  River 


476  APPENDIX. 

and  Bass  River,  in  Little  Egg  Harbor,  and  to  their  heirs  forever, 
they  being  Presbyterians,  for  the  use  of  the  Presbyterian  Meeting- 
House  and  burial-ground,  one  certain  lot  of  land,  containing  sixty- 
five  perches,  butted  and  bounded  as  followeth :  *  *  *  All  which 
said  sixty-five  perches  of  land  and  meeting-house  and  burial-ground 
for  the  use  of  a  Meeting-House  for  Presbyterians  to  carry  on  the  wor- 
ship of  God  in.  But  in  case  it  should  so  happen  in  process  of  time 
that  there  should  be  a  vacancy  when  there  is  no  Presbyterian  min- 
ister or  other  person  set  apart  to  carry  on  the  worship  of  God  in  said 
meeting-house  by  said  Presbyterians,  in  that  case  it  is  my  will  that 
any  Protestant  minister  of  any  Society,  that  is  well  recommended  by 
the  Society  they  belong  to,  to  have  the  liberty  to  preach  in  said  meet- 
ing-house until  the  Presbyterians  can  be  enabled  to  carry  on  the  wor- 
ship of  God  in  said  meeting-house  themselves;  and  it  is  my  desire  that 
the  Presbyterians  belonging  to  said  meeting-house,  when  there  is  a 
vacancy  as  aforesaid,  that  they  lovingly  receive  those  of  other  socie- 
ties that  come  to  minister  in  said  house  with  Christian  love  and  for- 
bearance as  much  as  possible." 

[The  Rev.  Mr.  Brown  here  gives  a  detail  of  Mr.  Brainerd's  labors 
among  the  Indians,  but,  as  he  adds  no  facts  to  those  stated  before  in 
this  volume,  we  omit  this  portion  of  his  letter.] 

We  propose  yet  to  consider  two  questions,  which  are  often  sug- 
gested to  the  minds  of  different  persons. 

Presbyterians,  upon  hearing  the  statements  contained  in  this  series 
of  letters,  with  wonder  inquire,  How  is  it  possible  that  our  Church 
has  so  neglected  the  region  in  which  it  was  so  much  esteemed  by  the 
first  settlers?  And  some  of  the  descendants  of  those  settlers,  many 
of  whom  never  heard  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  until 
very  recently,  demand,  By  what  right  or  authority  do  these  intrude 
into  a  country  where  other  denominations  have  so  long  held  undis- 
puted possession? 

In  reference  to  the  first  question,  we  can  present  some  reasons  which 
have  no  connection  with  the  doctrine  or  government  of  our  Church, 
and  which — without  admitting  her  inferiority,  or  conceding  that  she 
was  ever  driven  out,  or  deliberately  determined  to  abandon  that  ter- 
ritory— naturally  and  sufficiently  answer  the  question. 

1.  Some  assign  the  connection  of  the  churches  of  West  Jersey  with 
the  Presbytery  and  Synod  of  Philadelphia  as  an  important  cause.    As 
they  were  remote,  and  attention  was  called  to  the  more  impoitant 
churches,  this  thinly-settled  region  did  not  receive  its  due  attention. 

2.  But  there  is  another  reason,  to  which  allusion  has  just  been 


APPENDIX. 


477 


made.  We  refer  to  the  modern  exclusive  adherence  to  the  policy  of 
establishing  a  pastor  within  a  very  contracted  sphere  of  usefulness, 
to  the  neglect  of  the  work  of  the  evangelist.  The  first  ought  ye  to 
have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone. 

3.  There  is  another  reason,  which  appears  to  the  writer  to  have 
been  the  occasion  and  immediate  cause  of  the  first  neglect  of  those 
ancient  churches,  and  to  this  the  other  two  reasons  have  been  acces- 
sory, and  account  for  their  subsequent  neglect  until  they  have  been 
forgotten.  This  reason,  which  is  offered  with  deference  to  the  opi- 
nion of  older  men,  is  drawn  from  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  It 
was  a  time  of  trouble  and  of  war.  It  is  perfectly  plain  that,  up  to 
the  days  of  the  Revolution,  those  churches  were  nourished  constantly 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia ;  and  it  is  equally  evident  that 
during  and  after  the  noble  struggle  of  our  fathers  for  national  inde- 
pendence they  began  to  be  neglected.  Whatever  may  be  the  ulti- 
mate benefits  resulting  from  war,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  is 
attended  by  many  immediate  evils,  and  that  the  religious  interests 
of  any  community  cannot  escape  its  desolating  influence. 

Leaving  out  of  view  the  decay  of  vital  piety,  the  changes  of  resi- 
dence, the  interruption  of  business  and  loss  of  property,  all  of  which 
would  more  or  less  affect  the  prosperity  of  churches,  and  especially 
the  weaker,  what  was  the  direct  effect  upon  the  ministry?  Some 
pastors  were  called  from  their  pulpits  to  attend  to  national  affairs ; 
others,  like  the  Rev.  P.  V.  Fithian,  whose  journal  has  been  noticed, 
served  as  chaplains  in  the  army  or  navy.  The  career  of  this  man 
of  God  was  short;  and,  while  ministering  to  the  sick  and  dying  sol- 
diers, he  himself  sickened  of  the  camp-fever,  and  died.  What  was 
the  natural  consequence  when  such  instances  multiplied, — at  a  time, 
too,  when  there  were  no  educational  societies  nor  theological  semina- 
ries to  raise  up  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and,  owing  to  the  death 
of  some  ministers  and  the  unfaithfulness  of  others,  important  churches 
were  found  destitute  of  pastors?  What,  then,  more  natural  than  that 
these  vacant  churches  should  first  be  supplied, — as,  for  example,  John 
Brainerd  was  called,  in  1777,  to  be  the  pastor  at  Deerfield,  where  he 
died,  in  1781, — and  thus  laborers  were  withdrawn  from  the  frontier 
to  the  centre?  About  the  same  period  the  Methodist  ministers,  who 
had  retired  from  our  country  during  the  Revolutionary  War  from 
conscientious  convictions  of  duty  (we  would  believe),  returned  again ; 
and,  with  the  zeal  for  which  they  have  ever  been  celebrated,  entered 
into  places  which  Presbyterians,  in  consequence  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  times,  could  not  cultivate ;  and  we  presume  that  the  scattered 
Presbyterians,  seeing  no  prospect  of  having  a  church  of  their  own 

41 


478  APPENDIX. 

order,  and  esteeming  their  Methodist  brethren  as  pious  and  devoted 
men,  did  act  upon  the  advice  of  that  good  Presbyterian,  John  Leak, 
and  did  "receive  them  with  Christian  love  and  forbearance  as  much 
as  possible." 

A.  H.  B. 


P. 

Letters  from  Mrs.  Boss  to  her  step-mother,  Mrs.  Brainerd  (see  p.  439). 

MOUNT  HOLLY,  April  18,  1788. 
MY  DEAR  MAMMA: — 

I  have  never  been  able  to  learn  as  yet  where  you  are,  or  whether 
you  have  yet  arrived  in  the  city  or  not;  but  I  do  assure  you  I  am 
very  anxious  to  hear  from  you.  My  house  seems  to  have  a  vacancy 
that  nothing  temporal  will  supply,  though  my  friends  have  been  very 
kind, — especially  Mrs.  Brumley  and  Mrs.  Spraggs. 

Doctor  [Ross,  her  husband]  and  the  children  are  well ;  Betsey  [her 
daughter]  sends  her  duty  to  grandma,  and  three  kisses  to  Sophia  [Mrs. 
Ross'  oldest  child] ;  please  to  give  a  dozen  from  me  to  my  precious 
lamb.  My  dear  mamma,  do  not  be  forgetful  of  me  at  the  throne 
of  gi*ace ;  and,  oh,  how  unwearied  a  wrestler  have  I  need  to  be  to 
reach  His  hands  who  formed  all  things,  through  the  interceding  blood 
of  a  dear  Redeemed  f  I  commit  my  guilty  soul  to  him,  but  not,  I 
trust,  without  strict  watchfulness  and  prayer.  Please  to  remember 
me  tp  all  who  think  ine  worthy  of  their  notice.  Doctor  [Ross]  de- 
sires to  be  remembered  affectionately  to  you  and  our  dear  Sophia. 
Adieu,  my  dear  mamma. 

Believe  me  ever  your  affectionate, 

dutiful  daughter, 

M.  Ross. 

MOUNT  HOLLY,  June,  1788. 
MY  DEAR  MAMMA: — 

I  was  very  happy  in  hearing  from  you,  but  shall  be  much  happier 
in  seeing  you  as  soon  as  is  agreeable  to  you  and  dear  aunt  Seliunus. 
We  have  got  the  house  completely  and  beautifully  clean ;  you  will 
hardly  know  us  when  you  return:  the  partition  is  down.  By  advice 
of  my  friends  I  have  finally  dismissed  Bidde,  as  I  could  no  longer  put 
up  with  her  impudence,  and  have  got  one  of  the  neatest  little  creatures 
to  do  my  whitewashing:  I  believe  that  you  never  saw  walls  in  your 
life  so  smooth  and  white ;  all  that  is  now  wanting  is  your  dear,  good 
company  to  make  me  happy 


APPENDIX. 


479 


Doctor  has  been  very  ill  these  two  days,  but  is  now  something 
better.  I  feel  myself  very  much  fatigued ;  but  rest  will,  I  hope,  re- 
store me  to  myself.  You  are  never  absent  from  my  mind:  your 
counsels  and  advice  are  ever  present  with  me.  Oh,  how  happy  shall 
I  be  in  your  return !  Please  to  remember  me  to  all  inquiring  friends. 
I  have  sent  you  the  things  you  wrote  for. 
Adieu,  my  dear  mamma. 

Believe  me, 

Ever  yours  dutifully, 

M.  Ross. 
MOUNT  HOLLY,  Thursday  evening. 

September,  1788. 
MY  DEAR  MAMMA: — 

I  was  very  happy  to  hear  of  your  safe  arrival  in  town :  I  thank 
you  for  the  biscuits  and  radishes :  they  have  been  a  great  comfort  to 
me.  I  think  I  am  something  better  than  I  was  when  you  left  me, 
but  am  still  weak.  We  all  long  much  to  see  you  return ;  but  I  hope 
a  kind  and  gracious  Providence  will  be  all  our  preserver  until  that 
moment  arrives  that  shall  reunite  us.  We  are,  through  Divine  favor, 
pretty  well ;  nothing  remarkable  has  happened  since  your  departure. 

I  hope,  my  dear  mamma,  you  will  not  forget  your  promise  next 
Saturday.  The  doctor  and  children  join  in  affectionate  love  to  you 
and  all  inquiring  friends.  Sophia  is  writing  to  you,  and  she  has 
been  a  pretty  good  girl ;  she  incloses  in  her  letter  the  measure  of 
her  hat,  which  pleases  her  much.  Remember  me  affectionately  to  all 
who  think  me  worth  inquiring  after,  but  particularly  Mrs.  Annis ; 
and  that  a  kind  and  gracious  Providence  may  restore  you  soon  to  us 
again  is  the  sincere  prayer  of, 

Dear  mamma, 

Your  ever  affectionate, 

dutiful  daughter, 

MARY  Ross. 

MOUNT  HOLLY,  Thursday  evening. 

MY  DEAR  MAMMA: — 

I  hope  this  will  meet  you  on  its  arrival  at  the  city.  I  should  not 
wish  to  disturb  the  pleasure  you  enjoy,  were  not  our  family  visited  by 
sickness.  I  have  been  myself  very  poorly  this  two  weeks,  but  en- 
abled, I  trust,  to  commit  all  into  better  hands,  from  which  springs  a 
peace  passing  understanding  indeed;  but  my  body  has  been  much 
racked  with  pain. 


480  APPENDIX. 

My  dear  little  Alexander  was  and  still  is  very  sick ;  it  seems  he 
has  got  some  hurt  on  the  left  side,  so  that  he  screams  out  every  time 
he  is  touched,  and  daily  and  hourly  cries  for  grandma.  While  I  am 
writing,  he  is  much  pleased  at  the  thought  of  your  coming  home.  I 
need  not  attempt  to  describe  the  joy  it  will  be  to  all  our  family, 
though  to  none  more  than, 

My  dear  mamma, 

Your  affectionate,  dutiful  daughter, 

M.  Boss. 
November  4,  1788. 

G. 

Letter  from  Mrs.  E.  M,  Sims  (see  p.  441). 

PHILADELPHIA,  December  27, 1864. 
Mr  DEAR  DR.  BRAINERD: — 

You  have  given  me  a  task  that  I  scarcely  know  how  to  fulfil, — to 
give  you  some  account  of  my  paternal  and  maternal  grandfathers  and 
grandmothers :  they  had  passed  away  many  years  before  I  was  born. 
My  father  was  an  uncommunicative  man,  though  a  very  superior 
one ;  and  I  should  have  known  but  little  of  his  parents  but  from  the 
fact  of  my  being  a  very  inquisitive  child.  I  asked  many  questions, 
and  the  answers  received  comprehend  my  whole  store  of  knowledge. 

My  mother  (John  Brainerd's  granddaughter)  died  before  I  was  old 
enough  to  estimate  or  feel  her  loss ;  but  an  aunt  of  hers,  a  sister  of 
Dr.  John  Ross,  who  lived  till  she  was  an  aged  woman,  and  who,  from 
being  extremely  deaf,  dwelt  far  more  in  thought  with  the  dead  than 
the  living,  loved  to  discourse  by  the  hour  on  the  deceased  members 
of  her  family,  and  gave  me  many  little  particulars  concerning  them. 

Mr.  Elijah  Clark,  my  paternal  grandfather,  was  born  in  Connecti- 
cut (I  forget  his  native  town),  in  1732, — I  think  I  have  heard  my 
father  say,  in  the  same  year  and  month  as  General  Washington. 
His  father  was  a  man  of  property,  and  held  responsible  offices.  My 
grandfather  was  sent  to  Yale  College,  and  educated.  After  complet- 
ing his  course,  at  a  later  period,  he  came  into  New  Jersey,  and  pur- 
chased a  large  tract  of  land  near  Egg  Harbor,  and  built  upon  it,  and 
settled  there.  He  married  Miss  Jane  Lardner,  both  a  godly  and 
beautiful  woman,  who  was  born  in  Ireland,  though  belonging  to  an 
English  family. 

My  father  told  me  that  the  Lardners  had  been  among  the  Dis- 
senters from  an  early  period.  During  the  wars  of  the  Commonwealth 
they  were  firm  adherents  of  Cromwell's,  and  served  him  faithfully. 


APPENDIX.  481 

On  the  accession  of  Charles  II.,  their  position  being  an  uncomfort- 
able one  in  England,  they  removed  .to  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  came 
from  thence  to  this  country.  My  father's  name  was  John  Lardner 
Clark.  My  grandparents  on  this  side  of  the  house  were  very  godly 
people.  Elijah  Clark,  I  have  always  been  told,  was  a  man  of  mind, 
taste,  and  cultivation.  He  possessed  a  fine  library,  and  was  an  ex- 
tensive reader.  He  owned  many  slaves,  whom  he  instructed  and 
cared  for  as  his  children :  he  was  quite  a  wealthy  man.  He  erected 
a  small  meeting-house  on  his  plantation,  and,  when  unable  to  pro- 
cure the  services  of  an  ordained  minister,  held  services  in  this  build- 
ing every  Sunday  himself  for  the  benefit  of  his  children  and  depend- 
ents. He  had  quite  a  large  family  of  children, — eleven,  I  think; 
some  died  in  infancy,  but  seven  reached  maturity.  My  father  was 
one  of  the  younger  children.  He  was  a  very  superior  and  cultivated 
man,  possessing  uncommon  force  and  decision  of  character. 

He  had  not  the  advantage  of  a  classical  training,  owing,  as  he  told 
me,  to  the  very  unsettled  and  disturbed  condition  of  the  country 
when  he  was  a  youth.  His  elder  brothers  were  educated  at  Prince- 
ton. He  was  born  on  his  father's  plantation  about  the  year  1769, 
and  when  quite  young  came  to  Philadelphia  to  reside,  entering  the 
counting-house  of  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  James  Vanuxem  (Mrs.  Chas. 
S.  Wurts'  father),  where  he  continued,  afterwards  becoming  his  part- 
ner. They  were  shipping  and  commission  merchants,  and  held  con- 
stant correspondence  with  Italy,  France,  and  England. 

Mr.  Vanuxem  was  a  Fleming  by  birth,  but  was  wholly  educated 
in  France,  and  entirely  lost  his  knowledge  of  his  native  tongue. 
My  father,  from  constant  intercourse  with  his  brother-in-law  as  well 
as  with  most  of  the  French  society  of  this  city,  acquired  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  French  tongue,  and  both  wrote  and  spoke  it  with 
exactly  the  same  fluency  as  he  did  the  English.  In  1797  he  married 
Sophia  Marion  Ross,  eldest  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Ross,  and  grand- 
daughter of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd.  He  was  about  twenty-eight 
years  of  age  when  he  married,  and  my  mother  only  seventeen.  I 
have  often  heard  him  say  he  thought  he  was  marrying  a  woman,  but 
found  he  had  married  a  child.  My  mother  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one  :  out  of  a  family  of  seven  children,  four  died  in  infancy.  My 
brother  Brainerd  died  in  1837;  my  sister  Louisa  (Mrs.  James  Pea- 
cock) and  myself  are  now  alone  remaining. 

My  maternal  grandfather,  Dr.  John  Ross,  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Alex- 
ander Ross,  who  was  born  in  Scotland,  and,  after  completing  his 
course  at  Edinburgh  University,  came  to  this  country  and  settled  in 
Mount  Holly.  He  married  a  Miss  Becket,  whose  mother,  a  Miss  De 

41* 


482  APPENDIX. 

Normandie,  belonged  to  a  French  Protestant  family  who  fled  from 
France  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

My  grandfather  was  born  in  Mount  Holly  about  the  year  1752. 
I  think  he  was  educated  at  Princeton,  and  afterwards  adopted  his 
father's  profession.  He  was  in  the  army  during  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  as  an  officer.  I  believe  it  was  in  the  year  1779  that  he  mar- 
ried Mary  Brainerd,  only  surviving  child  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd, 
who  died,  I  think,  in  1792,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren ;  Sophia  Marion  (my  mother)  the  eldest,  Elizabeth,  afterwards 
married  to  Dr.  John  Brown,  of  Swedesborough,  N.  J.,  and  Alexander, 
who  went  to  Italy  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  died  there  of  some 
sudden  disease.  Dr.  John  Ross  was  a  totally  different  man  from  Mr. 
Elijah  Clark, — far  more  gay  and  worldly,  and,  I  imagine,  with  much 
less  dignity  and  weight  of  character.  I  have  understood  that  he  was 
a  tall,  fine-looking  man,  and  had  a  great  reputation  as  a  singer,  being 
able  to  entrance  an  audience  with  the  sweetness  and  power  of  his 
voice. 

My  mother's  early  death  prevented  my  getting  many  little  parti- 
culars concerning  her  parents  which  I  might,  and  no  doubt  would, 
have  procured  had  she  lived  till  I  was  old  enough  to  ask  her  ques- 
tions. But  I  have  scarcely  any  recollection  of  her  at  all,  except- 
ing the  sad  one  of  seeing  her  in  her  coffin,  which  so  startled  and  im- 
pressed my  childish  mind  that  I  have  never  forgotten  it. 

Most  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

E.  M.  SIMS. 


H. 

[Old  Pine  Street  Church,  to  which  the  author  ministers  in  Phila- 
delphia, have  aided  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bissell,  the  writer  of  the  follow- 
ing letter,  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  dollars. 
He  did  a  noble  work,  with  a  most  generous  spirit,  but,  like  John 
Brainerd  and  others,  was  but  feebly  sustained  in  his  endeavors.  His 
experience  is  instructive  (see  p.  448).] 

A  Modern  Experiment  in  the  Education  of  young  Indians. 

TWINSBUKGH,  LAKE  Co.,  OHIO,  July  11,  1864. 
DR.  BRAIHERD. 

DEAR  SIR: — Having  a  few  days  since  received  a  note  from  you 
by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Upson,  requesting  me  to  give  the  history  of  In- 
dian youth  who  have  been  educated  by  me ;  after  some  delay,  created 
by  the  closing  of  the  spring  term  and  other  peculiar  things,  I  most 


APPENDIX.  483 

cheerfully  comply  with  your  request.  Suffer  me  first  to  premise 
that,  owing  to  the  wide  distance  which  separates  these  youth  from 
each  other  and  from  me,  and  never  having  been  able  to  visit  their 
respective  localities,  I  shall  be  unable  to  give  you  many  particulars 
which  I  have  no  doubt  would  equally  interest  you  and  myself. 
Some  of  them  are  in  the  State  of  New  York,  some  in  Central  Michi- 
gan, some  in  Northwestern  Michigan  at  Mackinac  and  at  the  outlet 
of  Lake  Superior,  and  some  in  Central  Wisconsin  and  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Superior. 

Their  whole  number  will  not  differ  much  from  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five,  who  have  been  with  us  from  a  single  term  to  three 
years ;  perhaps,  on  an  average,  one  year  each. 

Let  it  be  further  stated  that  every  one  of  them  came  of  their  own 
free  will,  and  without,  in  most  instances,  any  certificate  of  charac- 
ter or  circumstances  respecting  them.  Many  of  them  came  igno- 
rant of  all  science,  and  with  none  or  very  little  knowledge  of  our 
language.  Under  such  circumstances,  all  sensible  people  would  be 
ready  to  conclude  that  great  allowances  must  be  made  for  them  in 
the  matter  of  high  expectations.  More  than  a  dozen  of  them  were 
girls. 

Under  all  these  disabilities,  and  separated  as  they  are  widely  apart 
and  from  me,  yet  I  have  been  quite  as  much  gratified  to  learn  well 
of  them,  and  of  quite  as  large  proportion  of  them,  as  of  any  class  of 
youth  I  have  educated.  A.  J.  Blackbird  is  at  present  the  national 
interpreter  of  the  Ottawas ;  and,  from  the  last  information,  instructing 
and  promoting  education  among  his  people.  Two  others,  Wakaroo 
and  Allen,  have  been  much  employed  as  interpreters  of  missionaries 
laboring  among  them. 

Others  are  enterprising  farmers;  encouraging  education,  temper- 
ance, and  industrious  habits,  among  the  Ottawas  and  Chippewas. 

One  of  the  young  ladies,  soon  after  she  left  us,  was  employed  as 
principal  in  an  academy  at  the  west  eqd  of  Lake  Superior,  among 
the  Ojibways.  Of  the  New  York  Indian  youth,  one  of  them,  by  the 
name  of  Prince,  became  the  principal  ef  the  chief  high  school  among 
the  Senecas,  and  fully  maintained  his  reputation  as  a  teacher  of 
youth;  and  at  least  from  three  to  four  of  the  young  ladies  have  be- 
come teachers  of  common  schools.  Six,  I  know,  and  probably  several 
others,  have  enlisted  in  the  army,  and,  as  officers  and  privates,  are 
baring  their  bosoms  to  the  bullets  of  the  rebels  for  our  aakes.  I  have 
just  received  a  letter  from  one,  wounded,  in  Alexandria,  saying  that 
another  of  our  scholars  was  there,  also  wounded,  belonging  to  the 
First  Michigan  regiment  of  Sharpshooters.  In  tho  winter  past  I  re- 


484  APPENDIX, 

ceived  a  Michigan  newspaper  containing  two  columns  written  by  one 
of  these  young  men  on  the  state  of  the  country,  that  would  have  done 
honor  to  the  head  and  heart  of  some  of  our  best  lawyers :  I  would  in- 
close it  to  you,  but  had  sent  it,  previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  note, 
to  a  friend  of  the  Indian  in  Massachusetts.  These  are  the  facts  I 
now  have  on  hand,  and  am  persuaded  they  are  but  a  few  only  that 
might  be  given  were  I  so  situated  as  to  get  what  is  now  transpiring 
in  regard  to  them.  When  we  reflect  that  these  youth  were  so  desti- 
tute of  education  and  of  the  habit  of  studying,  I  feel  that  our  high- 
est expectations  have  been  realized  thus  far,  and  that  the  amount  of 
good  that  will  finally  result  from  these  scanty  efforts  will  be  very 


Some  of  your  excellent  people  have  been  interested  in  aiding  your 
unworthy  servant  in  affording  the  means  of  educating  these  youth, 
and  they  would  certainly  be  glad  to  know  that  their  benefactions 
have  not  been  in  vain:  I  wish  I  could  gratify  these  good  people 
much  more.  If  I  had  had  the  means  of  travelling,  I  should  have 
visited  these  people  and  learned  all  particulars ;  as  it  is,  I  must  con- 
tent myself  with  the  above  statements. 

Since  I  saw  you  last  in  Philadelphia,  I  have  not  been  from  home 
to  ask  a  single  benefaction ;  and  yet  our  number  of  Indian  youth  has 
been  very  considerable.  . 

We  had  three  during  the  last  fall  and  winter  terms;  we  now 
have  two  applications  from  the  West,  and  have  said  yea  to  them; 
one  we  expect  this  month.  As  to  the  general  character  and  conduct 
of  these  youth  while  with  us,  I  think  they  will  compare  well  for  de- 
sirableness with  an  equal  number  of  white  youth.  Such  is  the  dis- 
position among  our  people,  even  among  many  professing  Christians, 
to  cavil  with  any  thing  done  for  the  Indian,  I  have  but  little  heart 
to  ask  them  for  aid.  One  exception,  as  that  of  Dr.  Wilson,  is  enough 
to  dry  up  every  fountain  of  benevolence ;  while  a  dozen  of  such  ex- 
amples among  our  race  would  do  but  little  damage. 

Suffer  me  here  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that  four  years  ago,  when  my 
excellent  companion,  who  had  been  a  true  helpmeet  in  our  efforts 
and  self-denials  to  help  the  poor  Indian,  was  gradually  sinking  into 
the  grave  and  left  me  to  mourn  her  loss,  I  found  myself  so  embar- 
rassed with  debt,  I  sat  down  and  wept,  and  for  the  moment  resolved 
to  make  an  assignment  of  all  I  had,  and  content  myself  with  abject 
poverty.  My  debts  amounted  to  about  six  thousand  dollars,  and  no 
part  of  it  had  accrued  from  extravagance  or  a  single  luxury.  As  I 
remarked  in  the  above  statement,  our  number  of  Indians  was  not 
less  tli an  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  averaging  one  year  each, 


APPENDIX.  485 

with  board,  books,  stationery,  etc.,  say  at  the  moderate  rate  of  one 
hundred  dollars  per  year,  making  at  least  twelve  thousand  dollars, 
of  which  we  may  have  received  six  thousand  dollars  in  every  thing : 
this  sacrifice,  together  with  many  favors  to  poor  white  youth,  build- 
ing, repairing,  and  losses,  thus  involved  me.  Poverty  I  could  endure ; 
but  to  have  it  said  that  I  failed  in  a  cause  of  benevolence  so  import- 
ant in  my  estimation,  I  could  not  endure.  Upon  second  thought,  I 
determined,  God  helping  me,  I  would  make  every  effort  to  sustain 
myself  and  maintain  my  cause.  The  war  began.  My  patronage  was 
lessened ;  my  creditors  became  frightened,  and  demand  upon  demand 
was  made  for  dues;  I  was  distressed  on  every  hand,  and  had  to  sub- 
mit to  legal  exactions,  and  that  without  mercy.  We  parted  with 
every  thing  we  could  spare,  denied  ourselves  all  comforts,  and,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  we  still  retain  the  Institution,  and  have  never  as 
yet  omitted  our  regular  terms,  or  suffered  a  debt  to  pass  by  in  default 
beyond  the  legal  time,  nor  have  we  turned  the  poor  Indian  away. 

How  long  we  may  be  permitted  to  struggle  thus,  I  cannot  tell.  I 
have  felt,  sometimes,  such  are  the  high  rates  of  living  that  we  must 
yield  the  matter ;  but  I  pray  God  that  we  may  go  on  with  our  object. 
More  than  six  thousand  youth  have  gone  out  from  under  our  hands, 
and  are  scattered  in  every  part  of  our  country,  acting  as  governors 
of  States,  members  of  legislatures,  ministers,  physicians,  attorneys, 
officers  in  the  army,  and  great  numbers  of  privates.  I  feel  that  such 
a  cause  should  not,  must  not,  fail.  I  could  desire  to  be  free  from 
debt,  that  I  might  the  more  cheerfully  endure  the  necessary  cares 
and  labors  of  the  Institution ;  but  God  knows  what  is  best,  and,  I  am 
persuaded,  will  order  all  things  wisely. 

I  fear  I  have  already  wearied  your  patience,  and  will  close,  asking 
an  interest  in  your  prayers.  Give  my  best  respects  to  Mr.  Alexander 
Whilldin  and  family,  Mr,  William  Clark,  and  any  others  who  may  be 
interested  in  my  object. 

Yours  most  affectionately, 

SAMUEL  BISSELL. 

The  young  Indians  came  of  their  own  will  from  the  forest  to  the 
Seminary  of  Mr.  Bissell,  and  he  could  not  turn  them  away.  Those 
who  have  seconded  his  efforts  rejoice  with  him  that  his  labors  were 
not  in  vain.  He  has  coveted  neither  notoriety  nor  praise,  but,  we 
hope,  will  not  be  offended  that,  by  inserting  his  letter  in  full,  we 
have  linked  his  name  with  the  memory  of  David  and  John  Brainerd, 
whose  example  of  sacrifice  he  has  imitated. — ED. 


486  APPENDIX. 

I. 

Indian  Wrongs. 

[The  author  believes  that  the  great  reason  why  Indian  missions, 
churches,  and  nations  have  so  often  perished,  will  be  found  in  the 
practical  adoption  towards  Indians  of  the  unchristian  and  inhuman 
principle  applied  by  Chief- Justice  Taney  to  the  negroes,  to  wit: — 
"  That  they  had  no  rights  which  white,  men  were  bound  to  respect" 
Hence  treaties  and  covenants  with  Indians  have  been  regarded 
about  as  much  as  we  would  regard  treaties  with  apes  and  monkeys. 
To  inspire  semi-civilized  communities  with  a  profound  regard  for  the 
right,  while  they  saw  every  principle  of  right  trampled  upon  for 
their  oppression  and  ruin,  has  been  above  the  power  of  ordinary 
Christian  teaching. 

In  1768,  a  great  Indian  Council  was  convened  by  royal  authority, 
as  represented  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  now  Rome, 
Oneida  county,  N.  Y.,  to  procure  a  cession  of  the  lands  held  by  the 
Mohawks  and  Oneidas.  As  early  as  1745,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barclay,  an 
Episcopal  missionary,  had  at  Fort  Hunter,  on  the  Mohawk  River, 
"  five  hundred  converts  among  the  Mohawks,  eighty  of  whom  were 
communicants." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Kirkland  and  others  had  made  a  prosperous  begin- 
ning among  the  Oneidas  and  Senecas.  The  Six  Nations  seemed  to  be 
in  a  favorable  condition  to  receive  Christianity.  But  this  Council  was 
gathered  to  root  up  those  Christian  communities,  through  bargains 
consummated  by  an  appeal  to  Indian  fears,  poverty,  and  reckless- 
ness. To  their  credit  be  it  recorded,  two  clergymen,  Rev.  Messrs. 
Johnson  and  Avery,  attended  as  delegates  from  the  clergy  of  New 
England,  to  ask  that  the  Indians  might  not  be  removed.  We  give 
a  portion  of  their  remonstrance : — ] 

Caveat  of  two  New-England  Missionaries  against  His  Majesty's  Orders 
to  Sir  William  Johnson* 

To  the  Honorable  Sir  William  Johnson,  Superintendent  of  the  Six 

Nations,  &c. 

Your  Excellency  having  received  a  letter  lately  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 
E.  Wheelock,  as  also  seen  his  instructions  for  propagating  the  gospel 
among  the  Indians,  etc.,  pursuant  whereunto  these  are  humbly  to 
desire  and  importune  your  Excellency  that,  as  a  tender  father  to 
these  perishing  Indians,  your  Excellency  would  be  pleased,  of  your 
most  generous  and  benevolent  disposition,  so  to  befriend  their  cause 

*  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  iv.  j>.  390. 


APPENDIX.  487 

as  to  prevent  their  setting  themselves  off  from  their  lands,  thereby 
to  frustrate  the  aforesaid  design  of  propagating  the  gospel  among 
them,  which  undoubtedly  will  be  the  sad  consequence  of  their  so 
doing.  That  this  effect  may  not  happen,  your  Excellency  is  humbly 
desired  to  restrict  the  bounds  of  the  respective  provinces,  that  they 
may  not  be  extended  so  far  north  and  west  as  to  cut  off  the  lands 
and  inheritance  of  the  natives;  but  that  they  possess  and  enjoy  them 
for  their  own  private  temporal  use,  and  that  more  sacred  benefit  of 
propagating  the  knowledge  of  the  great  Saviour  of  the  world  among 
them,  that  so,  by  the  grace  of  God,  they  may  have  a  further  oppor- 
tunity of  a  more  general  offer  of  the  gospel  to  them. 

(Signed)  JACOB  W.  JOHNSON, 

DAVID  AVERT,  Missionaries. 
Dated  FORT  STANWIX, 

October  17,  1768. 

Rev.  Mr.  Johnson  to  the  Commissioners* 

To  Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  Governor  Franklin,  Colonel  Graham,  Colonel 

Butler,  and  other  respectable  gentlemen  interested  and  concerned 

at  this  Congress. 
HONORABLE  AND  RESPECTABLE: — 

As  I  am  here  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Wheelock,  in  the  cause  of  propagat- 
ing the  gospel  among  the  Indians  of  these  nations,  I  must  be  faithful 
to  let  you  know  that,  whereas  the  Doctor  especially,  and  some  others 
with  him,  have  laid  out  much  labor  and  cost  with  a  view  to  spread 
the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  we  are  extremely  loth  to  see  the  cause 
die  under  our  hands,  and  a  fund  at  home  of  above  twelve  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  that  was  raised  by  noble,  generous,  and  charitable 
benefactors,  and  additions  thereunto  in  this  country,  be  lost  or  di- 
verted from  the  design  of  the  donors;  which,  we  imagine,  must  be 
in  whole  or  in  great  part,  if  the  Indians,  and  especially  these  Onei- 
das,  yield  up  their  lands :  we  therefore  ask  that  a  door  may  be  kept 
open  to  them  where  the  gospel  has  been  preached  and  schools  set  up, 
that  we  may  know  where  to  find  them,  and  not  have  to  ramble  all 
over  the  world  after  them  or  find  them  vassals  on  other  men's  land. 

We  therefore  pray  you,  most  honorable  gentlemen,  duly  and  deeply 
to  consider  and  weigh  the  cause,  not  for  man,  but  for  God,  to  whom 
you  and  I  must  soon  give  an  account. 

With  all  due  respect,  yours, 

JACOB  W.  JOHNSON. 

FORT  STANWIX,  October  30,  1768. 

*  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  iv.  p.  394. 


488  APPENDIX. 

[This  appeal  of  these  good  men  was  treated  as  a  grand  imperti- 
nence. In  writing  to  General  Gage,  under  date  of  November  24, 
1768,  Sir  William  Johnson  says:— *] 

"  I  have  now  the  pleasure  to  enclose  you  a  copy  of  the  Indian  deed 
of  cession  to  his  Majesty,  &c.  It  will  be  impossible  for  you  to  judge 
of  the  difficulties  I  had  to  overcome.  Added  to  all  the  rest,  two 
New-England  missionaries  came  up, — the  one  of  whom  was  strongly 
recommended  to  me  by  Dr.  Wheelock,  of  Connecticut,— and  did  all 
in  their  power  to  prevent  the  Oneidas  from  agreeing  to  any  line  that 
might  be  deemed  reasonable.  They  had  even  the  face,  in  opposition 
to  his  Majesty's  commands  and  the  desire  of  the  Colonies,  to  memo- 
rial me,  praying  that  the  Indians  might  not  be  allowed  to  give  up 
far  to  the  north  or  west,  but  to  reserve  it  for  the  purposes  of  reli- 
gion. The  New-Englanders  have  had  missionaries  for  some  time 
amongst  the  Oneidas  and  Oqhquagaes,  and  I  was  not  ignorant  that 
their  old  pretensions  to  the  Susquehanna  lands  was  their  real,  though 
religion  was  their  assumed,  object;  but,  knowing  that  any  steps  I 
could  take  with  these  missionaries  would,  from  the  Indian's  concep- 
tions, be  deemed  violent,  I  treated  them  with  silent  contempt!" 

[Sir  William  Johnson's  language  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  spirit  in 
which  appeals  for  justice  to  the  red  men  have  been  treated  by  public 
authority.  When  the  United  States  Government  was  induced  by 
Georgia  bluster  to  sacrifice  the  national  honor  in  violating  its  trea- 
ties with  the  Cherokee  nation  in  1832,  the  climax  of  injustice  to  the 
Indians  was  reached.  "  Finis  coronal  opus."  The  Indian  and  negro 
have  been  avenged.  Sanctioning  wrong,  our  government  has  in  turn 
felt  the  sting  of  wrong,  and  from  the  very  parties  whose  cruelties  it 
had  silently  indorsed. 

"  The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly ; 
But  they  grind  exceeding  small."] 

*  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  iv.  pp.  397,  398. 


INDEX. 


ALEXANDER,  Archibald,  D.D.,  quoted,  57. 
Am  well,  N.J.,  183. 
Arthur,  Rev.  Thomas,  184. 

BARBOUR,  Rev.  Mr.,  letter  from,  75-77. 

Bauch,  Christian  Henry,  73. 

Beatty,  Rev.  Charles,  169. 

Belcher,  Governor,  146,  147. 

visit  of,  to  Brainerd's  mission,  212. 

Bethel,  the  "  Indian  town  in  New  Jersey," 

107,  451. 

Indians,  patriotism  of,  314. 
missionary  life  at,  143. 
religion  among  the  Indians  of,  144, 
145. 

Bethlehem,  202,  203. 

Bible,  Eliot's  translation  of,  71. 

Bissell,  Rev.  Samuel,  letter  from,  482- 185. 

Brainerd,  David,  9-16,  461,  462,  465,466; 
Edwards'  estimate  of,  11, 12 ;  why  so  en- 
deared to  the  Christian  Church,  13,  14; 
his  relation  to  President  Edwards,  15, 
16;  dying  charge  to  his  brother  Israel, 
35;  expulsion  from  Yale  College,  52- 
5t;  extract  from  his  jonru.il  in  relation 
thereto,  54,  55;  John  Wesley's  opinion, 
55;  letters  to  his  brother  John  in  col- 
lege, 59-6i;  selects  John  as  his  succes- 
sor in  the  Indian  mission,  63;  extract 
from  his  diary,  63;  appointed  mission- 
ary to  Kaunaumeek,  75;  life  at  Kau- 
naumeek,  77 ;  sent  to  found  a  mission 
in  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  77; 
goes  to  the  Forks  of  Delaware,  78 ;  his 
cabin  thore,  79,  4~>4;  visits  tha  Susqne- 
haiiiia  region,  79;  begins  his  labors  at 
Crossweeksung,  79;  hs  success  there, 
80;  various  editions  of  his  life  and  la- 
bors, 80;  influence  of  his  example,  81; 
establishes  the  Indians  at  Cranberry, 
81;  extent  of  his  labors  among  the  In- 
dhins,  82;  seta  out  for  the  Susquehanna 
region,  83;  returns  to  Cranberry,  84; 
physical  prostration,  84;  interview  with 
his  brother  John,  86,  91 ;  his  salary,  93; 
his  forest  cabins,  97 ;  extracts  from  his 
journal,  97,  99-101,  101,  113,  114;  his 
spirituality,  112;  journey  to  New  Eng- 
land, 121-128 ;  final  letter  to  John,  121- 
126;  arrives  at  Northampton,  Mass., 
123;  visit,  of  John,  128;  occupation  of 
his  hist  hours,  129 ;  his  diary,  130 ;  last 
words  in  his  diary,  131 ;  his  parting  with 
Jerusha  Edwards.  132;  second  visit  of 
John,  134 ;  closing  scenes,  135 ;  death, 
136. 

Brainerd,  Daniel.  21-26. 

Brainerd,  Ilezckmh,  27,  28,  30. 

42 


Brainerd,  Hezekiah,  children  of,  31,  32. 

Brainerd,  Israel,  35,  36. 

Brainerd,  J.  G.,  apostrophe  to  the  Con- 
necticut River,  24. 

Brainerd,  John,  why  not  so  widely  known 
as  David,  16,  17;  his  father,  27-31 ;  his 
childhood  and  youth,  37,  50;  he  enters 
Yale  College,  51;  graduation,  58;  his 
classmates,  65;  he  studies  theology,  66; 
appointed  David's  successor,  67 ;  his  fit- 
ness for  the  missionary  work,  68 ;  meets 
David  at  Elizabethtown,  N.J.,  86,  SI; 
his  martyr-spirit,  91 ;  sets  out  for  Cran- 
berry, 93 ;  difference  between  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  brothers,  95,  96 ;  ob- 
stacles and  trials  at  Cranberry  ,103, 104, 
119,  120 ;  first  year  among  the  Indians, 
106;  he  visits  David  at  Northampton, 
Mass.,  128, 134 ;  returns  to  Cranberry, 
138;  is  commissioned  to  take  David's 
place,  141 ;  letter  from  Governor  Bel- 
cher, 146;  extracts  from  his  diary,  159- 
161,166-226;  ill  health,  168;  conversa- 
tion with  a  Quaker,  172;  takes  his  de- 
gree of  Master,  186;  visits  Governor 
Belcher,  187 ;  lodging-room  at  Forks  of 
Delaware,  191;  at  Gnadenh^tten,  197 ; 
interview  with  the  Moravian  Brethren, 
197,198;  visits  Bethlehem,  202, 203;  dis- 
cussion with  the  Brethren,  203-205 ;  vis- 
ited by  Governor  Belcher,  212;  sermon 
on  the  occasion,  213-215;  salary  aug- 
mented, 229 ;  enrolled  a  member  of  New 
York  Presbytery,  230;  letter  to  Rev. 
Eben.  Pemberton,  giving  an  account  of 
his  journey  to  Wyoming,  230-250;  want 
of  funds,  2t4;  his  reasons  for  taking 
long  journeys,  246 ;  applies  for  an  in- 
crease of  salary,  2o3  ;  letter  to  "  a  friend 
in  England,"  2*53-265;  his  Susquehanna 
tour,  2511.  260 ;  marriage,  265 ;  visited  by 
President  Samuel  Davis,  266;  proposed 
removal  to  Onohquanga,  267-276;  elect- 
ed a  trustee  of  Princeton  College,  276; 
dismissed  by  the  Correspondents,  285, 
286;  letter  to  Dr.  Wheelock  on  his  dis- 
missal, 289;  his  humble  spirit,  289 ;  is 
appointed  to  supply  in  North  Carolina, 
291 ;  removes  to  Newark,  292 ;  death  of 
his  wife,  309;  mission  to  Stockbridge, 
301;  chaplain  in  the  army,  303,  312;  his 
children,  307 ;  at  Crown  Point,  312:  is 
advised  by  Synod  to  resume  his  Indian 
mission,  314,  315 ;  leaves  Newark,  315 ; 
disrouragements  at  Brotherton,  327; 
not  properly  sustained  by  the  New  Jer- 
sey authorities,  32S  ;  Moderator  of  Sy- 
nod, 337;  opening  sermon,  338;  is  ap- 

489 


490 


INDEX. 


pointed  on  a  mission  with  Beatty,  340; 
in  Synod  of  1764,  342;  of  1765,  356;  la- 
bors in  New  Jersey  among  the  whites, 
359 ;  inadequate  salary,  360 ;  an  assist- 
ant appointed,  360;  salary  increased, 
363 ;  appointed  to  visit  Muskiugum,  365 ; 
removes  to  Mount  Holly,  375;  failing 
health,  379 ;  work  as  a  member  of  Sy- 
nod, 379,  380 ;  his  second  marriage,  383 ; 
compensation  from  1760  to  1770,  388; 
pecuniary  statement,  396;  turns  school- 
master, 399 ;  salary  increased,  406 ;  la- 
bors in  1775-76,  409 ;  removes  to  Deer- 
field,  413 ;  labors  among  the  whites,  424 ; 
his  New  Jersey  congregations,  425 ;  his 
connection  with  Princeton  College,  426- 
428 ;  reminiscences  of,  at  Deerfield,  430- 
434 ;  his  last  will  and  testament,  436- 
438;  his  descendants,  439-441;  personal 
appearance,  441 ;  character,  450 ;  style 
of  his  writings,  451 ;  journeys  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 452-455;  domestic  missionary 
labors,  466-477 ;  supplies  at  his  pulpit, 
473 ;  his  diary  an  index  of  his  character, 
164, 165, 226, 227 ;  letter  to  President  Ed- 
wards, 151 ;  to  Gideon  Hawley,  272-274; 
to  the  Rev.  Mr.  McClure,  401-403;  to  the 
Scotch  Society,  267 ;  letters  to  the  Rev. 
Enoch  Green,  328,  329, 467 ;  to  the  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Pemberton,  116-118,  230-250; 
to  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock,  279-282,  305-307, 
323,  324,  331-336,  341,  343-352,  361,  362, 
377,  378,  381-385,  389,  400,  401,  407 ;  to 
Mrs.  E.  Williams,  316,  357. 
Brainerd,  David  and  John,  influence  of 

their  example,  422. 
genealogy,  26, 27. 
mention  of,  in   Moravian   records, 

203. 

various  spellings  of  the  name,  22. 
Brainerd,  Nehemiah,  32,  33. 
Brainerds,  number  of,  educated  at  Yale 

College,  59. 

Brotherton,  N.  J.,  310, 413, 473. 
a  visit  to,  417,  418. 
Brainerd's  difficulties  at,  327,446. 
Indians  invited  to  "  Quiahoga,"  369. 
Indians,  letter  from,  in  reply,  370- 

373. 
Indians,    present    descendants    of, 

465,  466. 

Indians,  remove  to  Oneida,  419. 
mission,  Brainerd's  description  of, 

317-319. 

Brown,  Rev.  Allen  II.,  426. 
letter  from,  466-478. 
Brown,  Rev.  John,  266. 
Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  86. 

CALVIN,  Bartholomew  S.,  415,  460. 

petition  to  New  Jersey  legislature, 
415,  416. 

Calvin,  Ilezekiah,  378,  381-383,  395. 

Chalmers,  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted,  160. 

Children,  how  trained  among  the  Puri- 
tans, 44-48. 

Choate,  Rufus,  quoted,  29,  30. 

Christian  Knowledge  Society,  71. 

Churches,  early,  of  East  New  Jersey,  470, 
473-475. 

Clark,  Elijah,  480,  481. 


Clark,  John  Lardncr,  440. 
Clark's  meeting-house,  46. 
Connecticut  River,  apostrophe  to,  24. 
Correspondents,  letter  of  Dr.  Wheelock  to, 

353. 

Craig's  Settlement,  195,  207,  453. 
Cranberry,  Indian  school  at,  117. 

Indians,  character  of,  102, 103. 
Indians,  remove  to  Crossweeksung, 

98. 
number  of   Christian   Indians  at, 

106. 

settlement  at,  81,  98,  99, 106. 
sickness  among  the  Indians  at,  119. 
troubles  of  the  missionaries  at,  154, 

155. 

Crossweeksung,  David  Brainerd  at,  79-81. 
migration  of  Indians  from,  98-101. 
revivals  at,  108, 113. 

DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE,  347,  354,  402. 
Davenport,  Rev.  James,  167, 178, 179. 
Davis,  President  Samuel,  166. 
Deerfield,  N.  J.,  430. 

Brainerd  removes  to,  413. 
Delaware,  Forks  of,  78. 
Delaware  Indians,  288. 

invite  the  Brotherton  Indians  to 
settle  among  them,  369. 

their  present  condition,  459-462. 
Diary  of  a  Dartmouth  student  in  1780, 402. 

of  John  Brainerd,  159, 160. 
Dickinson,  Rev.  Jonathan,  86. 
Difficulties  in  Brainerd's  way  as  a  mis- 
sionary, 103, 104. 
Discipline,  a  case  of,  433. 
Diversity  of  races,  Indian  theory  of,  234. 
Doddridge's  i  ife  of  David  Brainerd,  quot- 
ed, 116-118. 

Drunkenness  the  besetting  sin  of  the  In- 
dians, 258. 

Duffield,  Rev.  George,  337. 
Duffield  and  Beatty's  missionary  tour,  364. 

EARLY  churches  of  East  New  Jersey,  470, 

473-175. 

Edwards,  Jerusha,  121-123,  136. 
Edwards,  President,  death  of,  301. 

his  estimate  of  David  Brainerd,  11, 

12. 

his  memoir  of  David  Brainerd,  80. 
his  opinion  of  John  Brainerd,  149. 
letter  of,  on  Onohqnanga  mission, 

269-272. 

letter  to  Mr.  Erskine,  154. 
on  David  Brainerd's  expulsion  from 

Yale  College,  53. 
on  John  Brainerd's  dismissal  by  the 

Correspondents,  287,  288. 
relation  of  David  Brainerd  to,  15, 16. 
Eliot,  Rev.  John,  70, 71. 
Emmons,  Rev.  Dr.,  39,  42. 

FIELD,  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted,  24,  41,  56, 121. 
Finloy,  Rev.  Samuel,  186. 
Fisk,"Rev.  Phineas,  38. 
Fithian,  Rev.  P.  V.,  477. 

extract  from  his  journal,  471-473. 
Forks  of  Delaware,  7K. 

David  Brai nerd's  house  at,  79,454. 
Frisiiio,  Rev.  Lovi,  393. 


INDEX. 


491 


GENEALOGY  of  the  Brainerds,  26,  27. 
Gnadenhiitten,  73, 197,  454,  455. 
Gordon's  History  of  New  Jersey,  quoted, 

414-417. 

Gospel  minister,  true  spirit  of,  87. 
Great  names,  influence  of,  10. 
Great  Revival  of  1740-41, 110,  111. 
Green,  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel,  quoted,  80. 
Green,  Rev.  Enoch,  329. 

letters  of  Brainerd  to,  328,  467. 
Green,  Rev.  Jacob,  186, 187. 

HADDAM,  Conn.,  23. 

Daniel  Brainerd  settles  at,  22. 

Indian  legends  of,  41. 

ministers  raised  in,  43. 

notable  men  born  in,  42,  43. 

Professor  Parke,  quoted  on,  38-44. 
Hazard,  Samuel,  170. 
Heckwelder's  Narrative,  quoted,  203. 
Henry,  M.  8.,  letter  of,  452-455. 
Heroes,  idealization  of,  67,  68. 
"  Hireling  preacher,"  388. 
Historical    Collections    of    New  Jersey, 

quoted,  414. 
Historical  Collections  of   Pennsylvania, 

quoted,  78,  79. 
Hobart,  Dorothy,  mother  of  David  and 

John  Brainerd,  28-30. 
Horton,  Rev.  Azariah,  158. 
Hunter,  Alexander,  208. 
Hymns,  Moravian,  204,  205. 

INDIAN  children,  letter  of  Brainerd  con- 
cerning, 331-336. 

churches  in  Plymouth  colony  in 
1673,  71. 

council  at  Fort  Stanwix,  1768,  486. 

council  at  Wyoming,  233. 

dance,  232. 

legends  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  41. 

migration  from  Crossweeksung,  98- 
101. 

missions,  why  they  fail,  486. 

objections  to  Christianity,  235. 

outbreaks,  308. 

"poison,"  234. 

pupils,  proper  treatment  of,  281. 

reservation  in  Burlington  county, 
N.J.,  296,  309. 

school,  Dr.  Wheelock's,  352. 

school  under  Brainerd,  399. 

settlement  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  71. 

theory  of  diversity  of  the  races,  234. 
Indians  at  Bethel  ejected  from  their  lands, 
156. 

at  Bethlehem,  207. 

attempts  tn  convert  them  to  Chris- 
tianity, 70. 

Delaware,  present  condition,  459- 
462. 

difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  cm- 
bracing  Christianity,  449. 

eager  for  education,  483. 

equitable  treatment  of,  by  New  Jer- 
sey, 416,  417. 

fruits  of  David  Brainerd's  preach- 
ing among,  81. 

inattention  at  public  worship,  104. 

of  Brotherton  remove  to  Oneida,  419. 

of  Cranberry,  N.  J.,  102,  103. 


Indians  of  New  Jersey,  415. 

the  Pilgrims'  treatment  of,  72. 

their  drunkenness,  258. 

their  readiness  to  receive  the  gos- 
pel, 447,  448. 

their  wandering  habits,  259. 
Iroquois,  142. 

JOHNSON,  Sir  William,  487,  488. 

Journal  of  David  Brainerd,  extracts  from, 

82,  83,  85,  86,  91. 
Journey  of  John  Brainerd  to  Cranberry, 

94,  95. 
to  Wyoming,  230-250. 

KAUNAUMEEK,  David  Brainerd  at,  60, 75, 77. 

its  location,  59. 

origin  of  the  name,  76. 
Kirkland,  Rev.  Samuel,  343,  486. 

LAND-TITLES,  New  Jersey,  155. 

Lardner  family,  480, 481. 

Last  hours  of  David  Brainerd,  129. 

Lawrence,  Rev.  Daniel,  201. 

Legends,  Indian,  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  41. 

Letters  of  John  Brainerd,  their  character, 

408. 

Lewis,  Rev.  Thomas,  192, 193. 
Lyon  family,  305,  306. 

Miss    Experience,  Brainerd's  first 
wife,  265,  300,  301. 

MARSH,  Rev.  Cutting,  letter  from,  459-462. 
Martha's  Vineyard,  Indian  settlement  at, 

71. 
Mason,  Hon.  Jeremiah,  Choate's  eulogy 

of,  29,  30. 

Mayhew,  Rev.  Thomas,  71. 
McClure,  Rev.  Daniel,  392. 

letter  of  Brainerd  to,  401-403. 
McDowell,  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted,  376. 
McKnight,  Rev.  Charles,  191. 
McWhorter,  Rev.  Dr.,  "Century  sermon" 

at  Newark,  322. 
Miller,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  417. 

quoted,  25,  26. 

Ministers  from  Haddam,  list  of,  43. 
Minnisinks,  452. 
Mission  in  1753  and  1754,  267,  283. 

of  Brainerd  to  the  Indians,  elements 
of  opposition  to,  82. 

stations  of  the  Moravians,  73. 
Missionary  labor  never  lost,  421,  422. 

remonstrance  to  Sir  William  John- 
son, 486,  487. 
Moravian  form  of  worship,  198. 

hymnology,  specimens  of,  204,  205. 
Moravians,  Brainerd's  views  of,  188. 

discussions  with,  203-205. 

labors  of,  among  the  Indians,  73. 

settlement  of,  in  Canada,  74. 

visit  of  John  Brainerd  to,  197,  198. 
Mormonism  in  New  Jersey,  418. 
Morris,  R.  II.,  154-156. 
Mount  Holly,  N.  J.,  375,  376. 
Murray,  John,  468,  469. 
Muskingum,  Duffield  and  Beatty's  mission 
to,  364-369. 

Indians  at,  364. 

McClure  and  Frisbie's  tour  to,  392- 
395. 


492 


INDEX. 


NEWARK,  Brainerd  removes  to,  292. 

was  Brainerd  pastor  at?  322. 
Vew  Jersey  Indians,  415. 

land-titles,  155. 

record  of,  with  the  Indians,  416,417. 
Northern  New  York,  Indians  of,  420. 

)CCUM,  Rev.  Sampson,  277,  333,  351,  355. 
)ld  French  War,  311. 
)neida  Indians,  420. 
Ouohquanga,  mission  at,  269. 

Edwards'  letter  on,  269-272. 

PARKE,  Professor  E.  A.,  on  Haddam,  Conn- 

38-44. 

J*eabody,  quoted,  122. 
Pecuniary  statement  of  Brainerd,  396. 
Pemberton,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  86. 

letters  of  Brainerd  to,  116-118,  230- 

250. 
Personal  appearance  of  Brainerd,  441. 

reminiscences  of,  431,  432,  442,  443. 
Pilgrims,  their  treatment  of  the  Indians, 

72. 

Pittsburgh,  first  sermon  preached  in,  366. 
Vomroy,  Benjamin,  336. 
Potter,  Thomas,  468,  469. 
Presbyterians,  reunion  of  Old  and  New 

Sides,  304. 
Princeton  College,  56,  57,  86,  289, 426-428. 

Brainerd  elected  a  trustee  of,  276. 
Public  worship,  Indian  behavior  at,  104. 
Puritan  communities,  influence  of,  42. 
training  of  children,  44-49,  66. 

RACES,  Indian  theory  of  diversity  of,  234. 

Rancocas,  N.  J.,  171. 

Rankin,  Rev.  Thomas,  403,  404. 

Records  of  Presbyterian  Church,  quoted, 

387,  388. 
Revival  at  Dartmouth  in  1782,  402. 

of  1740-41,  110,  111. 

Revivals  among  the  Crossweeksung  In- 
dians, 10S-114. 

of  religion,  108-110. 
Richards,  Rev.  Aaron,  218. 
Ross,  Dr.  John,  439,  481,  482. 
Ross,  Sophia  Marion,  438-440,  481. 

letters  to  her  step-mother,  478-480. 

SABBATH,  how  the  Puritan  child  spent  the, 
45. 

Salary  of  Brainerd  in  1766,  359,  360. 

School,  Indian,  at  Cranberry,  117. 

Scotch  Correspondents,  Dr.  Wheelock's 
memorial  to,  352. 

Scotch  Society,  extract  from  minutes  of, 
139-142,  157,  158,  228,  229,  251,  252,  285, 
293-296,  326,  327,  385,  386,  411. 

Sergeant,  Rev.  John,  72. 

Shamokin,  visit  of  David  Brainerd  to,  454. 
Shrewsbury,  N.  J.,  185. 

•iims,  Mrs.  E.  M.,  letter  from,  480. 
ix  Nations,  U2. 

mission  to,  148. 

;*mith,  Rev.  Caleb,  180. 

Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Know- 
ledge, 71. 

Spencer  family,  25,  26. 

Spencer,  Klihn,  2fi,  142, 148, 149. 
Oen.  Joseph,  3t. 


Stockbridgo  in  1760,  60. 

mission  to,  301. 
Stockton,  John,  Esq.,  166. 
Store,  Miriam,  332,  382,  383. 
Strict  training  the  best,  49. 
Strong,  Rev.  Job,  142-147. 
Suffolk  Presbytery,  extract  from  minutes, 

445,  446. 

Susquehanna,  David  Brainerd's  last  jour- 
ney to,  83. 

tour,  John  Brainerd's,  259,  260. 
Symmes,  Rev.  J.  G.,  letter  from,  451,  452. 
Synod  of  New  York,  its  kindness  to  Brain- 
erd, 297. 

Synod  of   New  York  and   Philadelphia, 
Brainerd  elected  Moderator,  337. 
Brainerd's  opening  sermon,  338. 
committee  of,   to  visit   Brainerd's 

school,  386. 

extracts  from  Minutes  of,  314,  315, 
320-322,  342,  .343, 356, 359, 360,363, 
374,  379,  380,  390. 

resolve  to  assist  Biuiucrd  in  his  mis- 
sion, 321. 
their  care  for  the  mission,  325. 

TENNENT,  Rev.  Gilbert,  346. 

Rev.  William,  285,  287,  296,  297. 

Rev.  William,  of  Freehold,  163. 
Tom's  River,  467. 
Training,  Puritan,  44-48. 
Treat,  Rev.  Richard,  170. 
Twinsburgh,  Ohio,  Indian  school  at,  482- 
486. 

VANUXEM,  James,  4S1. 

Vincenttown,  N.  J.,  Indian  settlement  at, 

412. 
Visit  to  Brotherton,  N.  J.,  417,  418. 

WADING  RIVER  CHURCH,  475. 
Wales,  Rev.  Eleazar,  176, 
Wesley,  John,  on  David  Brainerd's  expul- 
sion from  Yale  College,  55. 
Wheelock,  Rev.  Dr.  Eleazar,  his  Indian 

school,  277. 

Indian  scholars  of,  361,  362. 
letter  to  Board  of  Correspondents, 

353. 

letters  of  Brainerd  to.    (See  BRAIN- 
ERD, JOHN.) 
memorial  to  Scotch  Correspondents, 

352. 

Whitaker,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  354,  355. 
Whitefield,  Rev.  George.  347,  348. 
Will  and  testament,  John  Brainerd's,  436- 

438. 

Williams,  Colonel  Elisha,  316,  357. 
Woolley,  Jacob,  280,  299,  334,  344,  345. 

Joseph.  278,  279. 
Wrongs,  Indian.  486. 
Wyoming,  Brainerd's  journey  to,  230-250. 
Indian  council  at,  233. 

YALE  COLLF.GE,  expulsion  of  David  Brain- 
erd from,  52-54. 

Brainerd's  expulsion  from,  led  to 
the  founding  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, 5ti. 

number  of  Braimvds  who  have  been 
educated  at,  5J. 


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